


The Wish Stone

by NanaWakagimi



Category: Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types, Disney - All Media Types, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Drama & Romance, Eren is in deep shit, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Fantasy, Hanji is a Cheshire Cat, Levi is a Wizard, M/M, Magical Artifacts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-02 02:33:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4042444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanaWakagimi/pseuds/NanaWakagimi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Be careful what you wish for  ‘cause you just might get it.” as an old saying goes. Some wishes are hard to fulfill, that’s sad but true. But imagine that you have had something that makes every single one of your dreams come true. Something like… I don’t know. A stone, maybe? A magical stone created by some twisted wizard many years ago? Would you want it? Would you really like to change your life into a fairy tale? Then let me tell you about a certain boy who has been given such gift. So…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I just hope I won't fuck this up...

_…Once upon a time there was a king. He had a wife he deeply loved. Soon after their wedding he learnt that the new queen was expecting a child. Few months passed before the joy has arrived – a boy named Jack has been born. To celebrate the birth of prince, a certain wizard who was the king’s best friend decided to come._

_“Welcome, welcome, my dear friend!” said the king. “What gift are you bringing to our son?”_

_The wizard smiled, and took a little packet out of his sleeve. The packet contained a small and silver stone with magical symbols on it._

_“This, Your Majesty, is the Wish Stone.” said the wizard. “It makes any wish come true – both material and immaterial – but you have to be careful. There is **good** and **powerful**  magic within. If you try to use it with bad intentions, the consequences can be terrible or even irreversible.”_

_King has remembered his friend’s words, and swore that he will never use the stone with bad intentions._

_Some time passed, and the prince grown into a handsome and very intelligent young man. But even then, king and queen could see that something is wrong with him. Jack was barely talking to them. He wasn't also interested in the kingdom issues, though he was the only successor of the throne. Things were going like that for a long time until the king decided this was a good moment to ask the Wish Stone for fulfilling his request. Some night, he sneaked out of his bedroom to his son’s room doors carrying the Stone in hand._

_“I can see the suffering of my son. I tried everything but each one of my actions failed. Please, help him. I wish my child was finally happy.”_

_Next day, the king’s wish has become true. Jack greeted his parents with big smile on his face, then he told them everything he thought for all these years. All the three was overjoyed…_

_…Until one time. One frosty winter night, the queen got sick. Her condition was so bad she had no chance to survive. King asked the stone for help one more time, hoping that will save his poor wife but this time was different. The queen didn’t get better – she died on her husband’s eyes._

_Then the king submerged himself in incredible despair and rage. He was angry with wizard because he felt fooled by him._

_When the mourning time ended, he decided to visit the wizard. In this case he went to the nearest woods._

_“YOU LIED TO ME!” he shouted with rage as soon as he arrived his friend’s cottage. “This stone was supposed to make any wish come true! I asked it for saving my wife’s life but this thing did nothing!”_

_The wizard bowed his head._

_“I see… My condolences…” he said slowly with sad voice. “This is my fault. I forgot to tell you one more thing. Your wife passed away because the power of stone is strong but not stronger than death. I never meant to fool you…”_

_But the king’s rage was so huge that he broke up their friendship and ordered to burn the wizard’s cottage. And the wizard himself has been sentenced to death. However, before they executed him, he looked into his ex-friend’s eyes and sworn he’ll be back._

_Some time passed, and the wizard wasn’t coming back. The king was sure about his victory but he wasn’t the same person as before – he wasn’t able to love or joy. He became embittered and brittle, even to his son._

_He was going to regret this soon. One stormy night, the king had nightmares so frightening that it was almost true. He has been awakened by thunder but though he knew it was only storm, he didn’t feel relief. He was feeling that he wasn’t alone in his room  but he couldn’t  see that person. After a while, a certain man emerged from the darkness. The person that, as the king thought, was already dead._

_“We’re meeting again, Your Majesty.” said the man._

_The king was never as terrified as in that moment. After all he saw the death of this man with his own eyes._

_“Go away!” he screamed. “Go away! Leave me alone, you wraith!”_

_But the wizard wasn’t going to listen to him._

_“I won’t forgive what you did to me.” he hissed. “Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to kill you. Instead of this, I’ll send you to the place where people like you are treated as well as they deserve it.”_

_Then he put his hands up, he said a magical spell, and in one moment the king has disappeared. The wizard himself was also going to disappear but he was interrupted by Jack who has been alarmed by noises coming from his father’s room…_

“…Moooom, stop reading thiiis.” groaned Eren who had enough of bedtime story his mom was reading. The woman closed the book, and sighed heavily.

“I’ve told you, dear, it’s going to end up like this.”

“I wanted some fairytales. You were the one who chose legends.” Mikasa muttered.

“What’s the difference?”

“The difference is that fairytales always have a happy ending unlike legends.”

“Are you playing smart, Mikasa?!”

“Hey!” Carla lectured her son, and then she put the story book on shelf. “I’ll read fairytales to you tomorrow, okay? It’s too late to do it now.”

Next she kissed her children’s foreheads.

“Mom, is it true with that stone?” asked Eren.

“Nobody knows. When I was still attending school, I heard about some king and his 'magical stone' in classes but I doubt it had any supernatural powers. Well.. You can always take some stone from the river behind our house and pretend it makes wishes come true.”

The boy pouted his lips what Carla responded with giggle. Then she patted his head and went toward the door.

“Goodnight.” she said while opening the door and turning off the light. “I love you…”

“We love you, too.” the kids responded at the same time, and then they leaned their heads on pillows trying to sleep.

Well… At least Mikasa tried. Eren was lying down while staring at the ceiling and thinking about the mysterious stone. The legend their mom read to them was terrifying but he was curious about it anyway. In this case he ignored the fact that he had to wake up early in tomorrow’s morning, and he got up from his bed just to approach the book shelf and take this fat book of legends. Then he went back to bed and started looking for the part that Carla stopped reading on.

“Eren, go to sleep… Miss Pemberton will lecture you about sleeping in class again…” groaned Mikasa.

“Wait a minute… I just have to check something out…” saying this, the boy turned on his bedside lamp and started reading.

 

_…The wizard himself was also going to disappear but he was interrupted by Jack who has been alarmed by strange noises coming from his father’s room._

_“Who are you?” he asked with fear. “Where is my father?”_

_The man didn’t respond until he put the hood on his head and opened his mouth._

_“It doesn’t matter who I am. Your father was full of hatred and thirst for revenge. I’ve just gave him what he deserved.”_

_After this the wizard disappeared but he couldn’t predict one thing – the Wish Stone fell out of his sleeve and rolled on the floor to Jack’s feet._

_Since then, nobody heard about the Stone. Some people say that it has been destroyed. The other ones say that it still exists but it’s buried deep in the ground. That’s why the rest of them keep looking for it right up to the present._

_However, they have no idea what they're getting themselves into._


	2. Frozen Heart - A Birthday Present

…The day started ordinary. Because what amazing things can be told about an ordinary teenager, born in ordinary family, living in ordinary town named Marosina, who was lying on his bed while drooling  on the pillow right now? Nothing was denoting that he was about to awake. Even the wet material under his cheek didn’t help. But nothing lasts forever so the boy’s sweet dream has been interrupted by his sister soon.

“Rise and shine, Eren!” she shouted in faith that will affect him but he only muttered something and turned to the other side. In that case she had no choice – she went closer to the bed and grabbed Eren’s blanket throwing it on the floor at the next moment. Eren only winced and moved his knees up to his chin.

“Wake up. The breakfast is ready. I know it’s your birthday but it doesn’t mean you can be so lazy.”

“Go away, Mikasa… Because it’s my birthday, I wish to get some healthy sleep.”

Mikasa only sighed and stuck her head out the door.

“Mom! Eren doesn’t want to move his butt out of bed! Can I treat him with watering can?” she screamed.

“Yes, you can! Just make sure the water is icy!” responded Carla.

Hearing these words, Eren groaned and moved his butt from the cozy mattress. Mikasa only giggled seeing his cheek wet from his saliva, and bed head.

“I beg you, go away…”

“Happy Birthday, Eren.” said the girl with smile on her face, and then went out the room.

A few minutes later, the birthday boy went downstairs, dressed in dark pants, a hoodie, and his favorite light yellow shirt. After entering the kitchen, he found his smiling family sitting around the table.

“Happy Birthday, dear!” mom has greeted him.

“Thanks…”

“How is our almost adult child feeling?” asked Grisha.

“I don’t see any difference, to be honest.” Eren scratched his head. “I think you look forward to this day more when you’re still a child.”

“Believe me, this day was worth waiting.” Carla responded. “Remember when you’ve been complaining of how little time we spend together?”

As soon as Eren sat at the table, he looked at his mother and waited for her answer.

“We thought that today’s weather is pretty fine and it’s your birthday, so we could go to the beach.” she finally said.

“And then we’ll spend all day on the boardwalk.” added dad.

The boy admitted to himself that he was pleasantly surprised, especially after this unpleasant waking his up. Moreover – he liked the sea so this idea seemed pretty cool to him. He missed the sea waves and sand, and if the weather was sunny, then he liked it more.

“Alright.  I’m in.” he said calmly, taking a slice of bread. All four ate their breakfast in silence that was breaking by the sounds of cutlery from time to time. Actually, the birthday boy was kind of amazed by this. Admittedly, they weren’t talking so loud that the kitchen was quickly starting to remind of some noisy henhouse but they weren’t also as quiet as if somebody cut their tongues off. The boy was a little worried about it so he took a look off his sandwich, and then he saw his mother was sad. Usually she seemed happy or angry, so she was becoming sad only at funerals or after some big and loud fight that, luckily, were happening very rarely. But Eren finally decided to give it a rest.

**_I think I’m just exaggerating…_ **

But feeling that something was wrong couldn’t leave his head. Even the sound of sea waves and sand under his feet weren’t able to make his stop thinking about this, though it was always helping. He was looking at his mom from time to time and, in fact, she was smiling but he had a feeling that her smile was only a mask that hides secrets. For the time being, he preferred to not ask about anything. He was afraid that he would say something bad or do something even worse.

 _ **As if she was bothered by something… But shit knows what.**_ , he thought while eating his sundae.

“Mom…?” he finally dared to open his mouth. Carla turned her sight on him, taking her look off a strawberry cake she ordered. Her son only gulped.

“Is everything alright?”

The woman sent him surprised look and smiled right after this.

“…Of course, dear! Why should it be any different?”

Eren shrugged his shoulders.

“You appear to be kinda absent today…”

“It’s nothing, I’m just a bit tired!” she said with grin on her face but it didn’t convinced him.

Meanwhile Mikasa, as soon as she finished eating her ice-cream, stood up from the table and put her palm on her brother’s shoulder.

“I think it’s time to go for a little shopping.” she said. “Let’s go, Eren.”

“What do you need me for?”

“You’ll see. Come on!”

“But…!” before he could say anything, he has been moved away from their table and led to the shops.

“I ensure that you’ll be impressed.” said Mikasa.

“Oh, really? Where are we going to?”

“I know a certain shop near here. You won’t be disappointed, I promise.”

Hearing this, Eren sighed and decided to not say anything until they arrive the shop. Mikasa was leading him on all the streets so the boy started to have concerns about her words but soon they made it. They were standing next to small wooden building placed between florist and some boutique. Comparing to these ones, it looked weird.  Little purple stars on the windows were reminding him of some TV fortune tellers. In addition, the shop was named ‘Wonderland’ so the customers could assume that entering this place was synonymous with visit in some magical world.

“You come?” asked Mikasa who has already came into the shop.

Eren has shaken off his head to wake himself up, and then he followed her without a word. After arriving the shop, he suddenly became speechless – this place was full of things from all around the world. Shelves full of old books, Persian carpets hanging on the wall, old musical instruments, some of colorful jewelry, and more of another objects were making such a specific atmosphere.

The boy was about to touch some gold-plated candleholder when he heard somebody’s voice right near his left ear.

“You like it?”

The boy was so startled that he jumped, and almost made the candleholder fall. Luckily, the person who scared him, grabbed the object just in time. This person appeared to be a tall woman with glasses, grinning from ear to ear.

“How can I help you?” she asked.

It seemed that she wasn’t even aware she could give Eren a heart-attack. The boy himself was panting, touching his chest, and studying the stranger from bottom to top.

“Please…” he gasped. “…Please, don’t appear so suddenly…”

The woman has chuckled.

“Long time ago someone has asked me for exactly the same thing! I remember as if it was yesterday!” saying this, she stood behind a huge counter that had an ancient lamp, and little boxes with a lot of minerals on it. “So! My name is Hanji Zoe, and this lovely place is my antique shop. Make yourself at home and don’t be afraid to ask if you need to. I’ll answer every question except the ones treating about life and death. Excluding this, anything you want~!

“Today is my brother’s birthday so I wanted him to buy something that is worth his attention.” Mikasa said calmly.

“Ah!” Hanji has clapped her hands. “In this case, I recommend you to look around there, dear boy! I’ll stay here with your sister since we have to talk. If something will catch your eye, then call me if it’s not a dust, of course!”

Eren only smiled nervously, then he left his sister with shop assistant and started to look around the shop. The more he was going into, the bigger was his impression that this building became longer. He felt like in some labyrinth, and to be honest he was a little afraid of getting lost in there but each time he looked behind him all he saw was a straight way back so there were nothing to be worried about.

The objects on shelves and tables seemed priceless so, excluding the candleholder from before the few minutes, he didn’t want to touch them. Especially the ones that seemed extremely fragile – Chinese vases, porcelain tea sets, dolls, and some other stuff. It seemed that not only the name of shop was implying something mysterious – the interior itself was also appearing to be magical. He was making step by step until he saw an open chest full of costlinesses that reminded him of some treasure stolen from pirates. But what paid Eren’s attention were neither the gold coins nor rainbow colored gemstones. The thing that interested him the most was middle sized, gray and smooth stone with weird symbols on it. He took it to his hand and studied carefully. The mineral has been cut with due diligence, and these signs seemed like some ancient writing. He was curious of their meaning and, indeed, he reminded of certain fairytale that he used to read when he was younger.

A minute later, he went back to the counter where he found Mikasa putting some yin-yang necklace on her.

“Did you find something?” she asked.

Eren nodded and approached the counter, putting the stone in front of Hanji. Seeing this thing, she chuckled and her eyes has glowed.

“Good choice, my boy!” she said. “Do you know what is it?”

“Uh… A stone, I guess?”

“THIS, young man, is more than just a stone!” the woman has grabbed his palm with both of her hands. “This little thing will make each of your dreams come true! Think about something and suddenly it happens! I know this because I tried myself and… Well, I got everything I wanted~!”

The birthday boy nodded while smiling nervously what meant only one thing to Hanji.

“You don’t believe me, dear, do you?”

“Y-You know, miss… It’s hard to believe in such things in today’s times…”

“Oh, trust me, you won’t be disappointed! Go ahead! Make a wish!”

Eren frowned.

“… Isn’t it like nobody can hear my wish?”

“It isn’t if you’re holding this little guy in your hand. Come on!”

He hesitated. After all, he didn’t believe in such things like wizardry, magical spells and artifacts but the shop assistant was staring at him so genuinely that it was hard to refuse her. He was afraid that it would make her upset so he looked at the stone and said first what came into his mind.

“I want bike.”

Then he looked back at Hanji whose expression haven’t change at all.

“…What now?” he asked.

“Now you have to wait, dear. So? Should I pack it for you?”

“W-Wait, wait, how much does it cost?”

“Usually I take like about one hundred dollars for such things but since it’s your birthday, I can lower the price.”

The boy has given her some money, and then he left the shop with his sister. And when they only did it, he chuckled.

“Why are you so happy about?” the girl asked.

“That woman was hilarious.”

“You mean this stone? You know, it looks kinda weird… Not to mention that it’s a bit impossible to cut a stone so smoothly.”

“Please. How do you think what was the real reason she’d lowered the price for? This thing is artificial. A bronze painted so that it seems like something else.”

“Why did you buy it then?”

“I was looking for something cool to make a necklace. As you know, Armin’s father is a goldsmith so I thought about asking him for enchasing it.”

Mikasa only shrugged her shoulders, and then they went back to their parents with saying that the shopping went well. They spent the rest of day on the beach.

 

In the evening, Eren was too exhausted to do literally anything. He was lying on his bed, his legs were sore as well, and his mind was full of today’s experiences. It’s been a while since he was chasing the sea waves so passionately. He almost reminded of time when he was still a little kid – no worries, no unpleasant things, no fear, there was only him and a lot of fun. He even got Mikasa to chase the water like he was doing. This feeling was so amazing that it’s a pity it couldn’t last forever. Since Monday, he’ll have to go back to the reality that high school was. Sad but true, and he couldn’t do anything.

But he also reminded about calling Armin. In this case, he took his cell-phone from the bedside cabinet and chose the number.

“Hello?” he heard Armin’s voice on the other side.

“Hi I hope it’s not too late.”

“Please. Everyone in my house go to sleep at midnight.”

“Okay but I’m not bothering you, aren’t I?”

“I’ve just finished studying so I have some free time.”

“Oh, that’s great! I have some question to you, well, actually to your father but I thought it was easier to talk to you at first…”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, no, no, everything is alright but could you ask him if he’s able to make a necklace of stone I’ve bought today? You know, put some gold frame around it or something…”

“I think it’s possible. I’ll ask him tomorrow. Oh, and by the way – Happy Birthday to you! I’ve almost forgot because of this load of studying…”

“It’s fine. Okay, so goodb…”

“Wait! As long as we talk I remembered that my dad is giving away his bike. And it so happens that he was thinking about you taking it.”

Hearing this, the boy opened his mouth with surprise.

“…A bike?” he asked slowly.

“Yeah! That one you liked that much but I only don’t remember the name of brand. My dad thinks it’s too small for him so he wants to give it away to somebody but he wishes it was you instead of some stranger.”

He couldn’t believe what he just heard. It was too impossible to be real. Especially that he was still remembering today’s situation in that shop and the shop assistant’s words when he was buying said stone. He slowly took it out from his pocket and studied carefully without paying attention on what Armin was saying. Armin himself started wondering why his friend didn’t respond so he called his name.

“… Y-Yes, I’ve heard you.  Meet me up tomorrow so we’ll be able to talk at ease…” Eren said goodbye to Armin and looked at the ceiling.

**_I think I’m just exaggerating…_ **

 

…As Eren was saying to himself. However, the events that were taking place for all the next week were starting to make him think that the power of stone was real, even if he was refusing to believe it. He was denying that from bottom of his heart that this is impossible but each of his wishes has come true. He wanted to eat some ice-cream – they gave it to him. He wanted to watch some TV show that wasn’t airing for God knows how long – suddenly they broadcast it. He wanted to get a good grade – in one minute he was willing to study, and all these difficult tests were becoming incredibly easy to pass.

The boy was impressed even if convinced that all those things that happened to him were impossible but at the same time he was finding this a bit of terrifying. In that case, one Saturday when their parents weren’t at home, he decided to talk about this with Mikasa. He found her in the living room – she was lying on the sofa watching some TV show.

“Hey…” he started, sitting in the armchair.

The girl muted the television and looked at her bother.

“Do you know some good psychiatrist?”

Mikasa made big eyes.

“…No? Why?”

“Because of this.” he showed her the stone. “Strange things are happening since I bought it… I know it sounds crazy, I think it’s crazy, too, but… I have a feeling as if every day was my birthday.”

“What do you mean?”

“Anything I wish comes true. Weird but this is happening. Everything thanks to this little thing. First I thought somebody makes fun of me but it’s impossible to suspect the entire city of these events. That’s why I decided to get some doctor.”  
“I think you’re overreacting. First you were the one who said that this is ridiculous, but now I’m gonna say this to you. To me, all the things that happened to you were just coincidences. If something was wrong with you for real you wouldn’t even say a word about psychiatrist.”

“So how would you explain my new bike? Or that I wanted Jean to be punched in the face, and he has been punched? Or the fact that my favorite TV show wasn’t airing for God knows how long and now they suddenly airs it?”

“This is one huge coincidence, Eren. Like I said, I think you’re overreacting. Now go check if apples has baked…”

“I’m not overreacting! I need help, and you’re not gonna help me by saying such things!”

“Eren, calm down, please!” the girl stood up from the sofa. “I’m trying the best I can…!”

“No, you don’t!” he also stood up. They both were standing like this for a while staring at each other’s eyes until Eren decided to go to his room. He’d run upstairs as fast as he could and slam the door.

At first he felt terrible he treated Mikasa like this but his anger and pride quickly dissuaded him from going downstairs. In this moment he wasn’t going to admit he was wrong.

“If THIS is help, then I don’t want her to help me at all.”

 

This night wasn’t going well neither for Eren nor Mikasa. Even if outside was warm, she felt cold on her body and heart. She was looking out of the window leaning her elbows on window ledge, and never thought about going to sleep though it was first o’clock. She wasn’t able to do it having her head full of bad thoughts.

The girl was feeling terrible. This wasn’t the first time she had a fight with Eren but this time it went too far. They both overdid it. He, because of underestimating the intentions of her. She, because she didn’t treat his words seriously. But what else she could do if he was saying some nonsense? He might need help but did he really have to react so angrily? …But on the other hand, she could just listen to him and try to help without negating his problem. In that case, she decided to talk to him tomorrow and apologize if possible.

After this, she was going to move away from the window and finally go to sleep when some light in the distance has paid her attention. First she thought it was only a star but her opinion changed when the wind has started to blow all of sudden and the light got closer to her. Then it got lost somewhere, and after this something else has flown past in front of Mikasa’s eyes. Something small, and fragile, and white, just like…

“…Snow?” she asked herself. “…In here…?”

In fact, it wasn’t possible to see such weather phenomena in California, especially not when the temperature was so high. However, Mikasa couldn’t compare what she saw to sand, or dust, or Styrofoam. It was real and cold snow.

Suddenly she moved away from the window because of pain in her eye – it felt as if someone has popped it with really sharp needle. The same thing has happened to her second eye what made her close her eyes and drop a few tears. Having her eyelids closed, the girl wasn’t able to see the fog that entered the room but she could feel it since it encircled he and was incredibly cold. After this, her heart has hurt so bad she couldn’t breath so that made her fall on her knees and grab her shirt. Trying to catch some breath, she had a feeling that somebody is talking to her. But it wasn’t Eren, or anybody she would know. This voice was only in her head.

_“Poor unfortunate child… Not only your parents didn’t want you for their child but your so-called brother thinks that he is God knows who… See how he treated you? He doesn’t deserve a sister like you.”_

The long Mikasa was listening to this voice, the more it was convincing her it was right. She spent years of trying so hard to have a good relationship with Eren but what was the point if that was how he repaid it?

_“It’s a long way from where I live but I can take you with me… If I’ll be around you won’t be treated as if you were nothing…”_

“…Who are you…?” she asked quietly. “…When will I see you…?”

_“Five days… Then we’ll meet…”_

After this, the fog has disappeared, the wind stopped blowing, and there was warm outside again.

Mikasa couldn’t get rid these words of her head. She didn’t even want to do it. She was ready for everything just to leave the house of family she didn’t belong to. She didn’t need these people to be her parents, and brother who hated her.

“Hey, I heard you screaming! Is everything okay?”

Speaking of the devil. The person she had to live with came into the girl’s room appearing to be very concerned about her. But she neither stood up nor looked at him.

“Hey.. Are you alright?” asked Eren once more, and approached her intending to touch her arm but then she pushed away his hand.

“Leave.” she hissed.

“But…”  
“LEAVE. I can stand up on my own.”

At first he wasn’t going to leave but Mikasa’s voice sounded so deep and minacious that he almost got goose-bumps. In that case he left her alone and quietly went back to his bed.

**_Am I exaggerating this time or…?_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you imagined Eren sleeping in this position (http://media.tumblr.com/964dbb19cdc3408cf22df12ee9523831/tumblr_inline_n74f6v4bL31sgmxn6.gif) you did it right ;)


	3. Frozen Heart - Coldness

…This morning started really bad for Eren. The alarm clock in his phone didn’t wake him up, somebody has shuffled all objects in the bathroom so hard that he couldn’t find the tooth paste, and he wasn’t even able to eat any breakfast ‘cause he was late for the bus. All because he woke up later than usual.  Things like that weren’t happening but even if, Mikasa would wake him up then. He was going to find out why she didn’t do it this time, so after the first class (on which he managed to be on time), he approached his sister who didn’t seem like she cared about this. In addition, she was pretending she didn’t see him.

“Okay, we need to talk.” he said leaning on somebody’s locker.

“After how did you act yesterday? Forget it.” she responded coldly, taking the math textbook out of her locker.

“This is what I’m talking about. Look, I know I was too harsh. I said too much, I lost my temper, and, from bottom of my heart, I’M SORRY.”

“And you think that’s enough?”

“I will stand on my head, if I have to! That’s the first thing. The name of second one is ‘why didn’t you wake me up’?”

“Set the alarm in the future. I’m not going to be your babysitter forever, Eren.” after this, Mikasa has left but her brother didn’t wanted to concede, and in that case he followed her.

“It WAS set! And it would probably wake me up if somebody wouldn’t turn off my phone!”

“Goddammit, it’s not my fault that your phone has been unloaded…”

“I load it every night! This has no but one explanation that you’re just angry about yesterday!”

“Yes, I’m angry and I will be. After all those years of serving you I decided that you deserve it.”

“ _All those years of…_ WHAT?! Can you not hear yourself?!”

“Go to your class, Eren.”

“But…!”  
“GO-TO-YOUR-CLASS. Don’t make me say this again.”

The girl left him alone in the middle of school corridor. He couldn’t exactly describe how he felt in this moment – first it was anger, then sadness, and finally disappointment. It also took him a while to figure out that the bell has rung, and the other students started to go to their classes.

 

Things were going like this for the next few days. Eren tried to talk to Mikasa as he only got a chance. Unfortunately, it was all in vain – the girl was pretending to not see him, or giving him the runaround saying ‘leave me alone’, or even slapping him in the face. This situation seemed worryingly not only for Eren and their parents but also Mikasa’s classmates and Armin who sat with the boy in school cafeteria and started to ask him about her.

“I don’t know how to deal with her anymore. She doesn’t want to listen, though I’ve apologized her like about thousand times or even more.” said heartbroken Eren, looking at his sister sitting alone at the another table.

“Don’t worry, Eren. That’s why we want to help you.” Sasha said, as she only finished to eat her sandwich. “The most important thing is to not give up. I recommend you to break the ice with a gift. Cook her a dinner right after school~!”

“Sasha, it may sound rude but the dinner as part of apologies is something that YOU would love.” Ymir interrupted. “I really doubt Mikasa would be into food.”

“How can you not be into some delicious food?!”

“Simple. Some ones are on diet, and some other ones, like me, are more into jewelry.”

“Jewelry? Wait a sec!” Armin started to looking for something in his school bag, and then he took out the stone that Eren wanted to be enchased. Now it had a gold frame around it, and thanks to lace it was possible to wear it on the neck.

“Oh, right… I almost forgot.” Eren rubbed his forehead. “How much do I owe you?”

“No, no, no! Eren, give it to Mikasa.”

The boy gave him surprised look and then turned his eyes on his sister sitting in the distance.

“…Do you think it’s gonna work?”

“Even if not, at least you should try.”

Jaeger was staring at the stone for a while, then he sighed heavily and approached Mikasa’s table with his heart in his mouth. But this didn’t give him expected results because he quickly went back to his friends with bruised cheek.

“Well… Crap.” Armin commented, and then they got back to eating their lunch in silence.

 

In the evening at Jeager’s house, the family was actually having a dinner. Nobody said a word during the meal, and even if, Eren and his parents were the only ones who were talking. In Mikasa’s case, the talk wasn’t going so well what was worrying Carla since week. It was the same as in the previous days – the girl didn’t help to prepare the dinner, and she didn’t say “Thank you” neither before nor after. This time she rose from the table and left the kitchen without a word. Eren saw clearly that his mother didn’t know what to do, so he decided to try to talk to his sister.

“Thank you.” he said rising up from the chair, and went upstairs in the girl’s room’s direction. The door was obviously locked, so he had to knock what he did rather violently.

“Go away, Eren.” he heard on the other side.

“I’m not going anywhere! I have enough of you being so offended at the entire world! Well, mostly me. The rest are our parents, your friends, and the other people who you shout out for some reason! You know it’s pretty annoying, don’t you?”

“I don’t care. Now, if you’re standing in front of my door, I recommend you to  move back.”

“Oh, for God’s sake! Open that door or…!”

The boy didn’t finish because impetus Mikasa opened the door with was so huge that it threw Eren on the wall. She quickly went downstairs, having a travel bag hanged  on her right arm, and she was about to leave this house when she has been stopped by Eren who grabbed her shoulder.

“Let me go.” she ordered coldly.

“I won’t do this! Look, you have any right to be angry with me but what the others did to you?!”

“None of your business.”

“Actually VERY MUCH of my business! I won’t let you go until you explain your actions!”

“I don’t have to explain anything. But you know? I guess I can since this is the last time I’m in this shitty place.”

Hearing this, Carla and Grisha entered the hall.

“Wait a minute, what on Earth is happening here?” she asked. “Where are you going, Mikasa? Why did you take this bag?”

The girl didn’t pay any attention on her mother.

“The truth is that I was never a part of this family. I figured it out when you said… How it was? ‘I’m not helping even if I try”? This is who you are. It happens all the time. Each time I wanted to help you, instead of ‘Thank you’ I’ve been hearing ‘I can do it on my own’ or ‘You’re not my mother’. Now, answer me – have I lost my mind that I decided to serve such brat like you?”

Eren was so shocked that he finally let his sister’s arm go. She, on the other hand, took a red, soft material out of her pocket and gave it to her brother.

“I’m giving it back to you.” she said. “People who treat such things as presents are idiots.”

He was still speechless. All he was able to do was staring helplessly at the scar in his palm.

“And you two?” Mikasa looked at people who she used to consider as her parents. “This is also your fault. Because of you, I’ve been forced to put up with that spoiled brat.”

“M… Mikasa, darling, what are you even talking about?” stuttered Carla who was becoming concerned about the girl with each passing minute.

“Don’t call me like that again! This is all because of you! You were the one who took me out from that shitty orphanage! And why?! You wanted me to lose my nerves because of your damned son, didn’t you?! **I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU THAT!** ”

After this, she opened the front door and left Jeager’s house shutting it violently. She exactly knew where she should go now – the voice in her head was telling her everything she needed to know. It was also telling her to hurry so she started to run without unnecessary considerations. She had to if she wanted to run away from this damned place forever. “Faster. Hurry up.”, she was hearing all the time.

Then the voice ordered to stop, and next  she saw the same light that has caused the snow few days ago. It started to grow, the wind was blowing stronger and stronger, until a certain sleigh appeared in front of Mikasa. Those weren’t the ones that she was usually seeing on pictures with Santa Claus. It couldn’t even compare to those she was looking at now - these and the reindeer-looking creatures that were pulling the carriage were made of pure ice and snow. Hard to believe  these things could even move. This was amazing but the more amazing being Mikasa has ever seen was the person who was driving the sleigh. It was a pale woman with snow white hair, dressed in fluffy white fur. She was holding up the reins in her cold palms and smiling mysteriously to the girl.

 _“I’m sorry I’ve kept you waiting.”_ she said gently, then reached her hand to Mikasa. _“Come. No time to waste.”_

Mikasa had no doubts with what she is supposed to do. She was about to touch the woman’s hand when she heard a familiar voice on her left side.

“STOP!” it was Eren who followed her sister while after she left their house. However, he was too far even if he was running like hell.

 _“Are you going to let him order you?”_ said the stranger what affected the girl strongly. She wasn’t going to stay with her ‘brother’ especially after what she confessed to him. In that case, she proffered her hand to the woman and came into the carriage without any hesitations. As soon as this happened, the ice reindeers hit the road leaving Eren far behind the sleigh. But he wasn’t going to give up now, though his legs and lungs were refusing to work. Finally he was forced to stop not only because of his exhaustion but also shock – the sleigh just rose up and flew away leaving some ice on the road.

“What the hell…?” the boy stuttered staring with fear in his eyes at the carriage that has vanished into thin air soon.

He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t even want to. He was able to handle the stone that fulfills wishes somehow, but THIS? This was too impossible, such things were happening only in fairytales and dreams. Of course, it had to be a dream. He only had to wake himself up…

But even if he closed his eyes and pinched himself very hard, the truth was that Mikasa was gone while he was still standing on ice-covered road. Though he was pushing away these thoughts, he had at last admit to himself that all things that just happened here were as real as those last few days.

**_… I’m afraid… I’m not exaggerating this time…_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much drama, omg...


	4. Frozen Heart - Journey to the End of the World

_...“Eren! Eren, come here!” called Grisha who just came back home with his wife and… one more little guest. When Eren went downstairs, he noticed that someone was hiding behind his mother’s back. It was a little girl with black long hair and incredibly bright skin, who was staring at him a bit anxiously. He, on the other hand, looked at her and was kind of amazed._

_“Who’s that?” he asked his mom._

_“Say ‘hello’ to each other.” the woman responded with smile. “Eren, this is Mikasa. Since today, she’ll be living together with us.”_

_“How come? Doesn’t she already live with her mom and dad?”_

_Hearing the “mom and dad” words, Mikasa cringed and glanced down with sad expression what was very surprising for Eren._

_“…We’ll talk about it later. Now, lead her to your room and go find some pillow for her.”_

_“Why? Is she going to sleep in my bed?”_

_“At least until we get another one.”_

_Carla patted her son’s head, then she and her husband left him alone with Mikasa. The boy studied her from bottom to top, and next moved closer to her what made her back away. In that case, he tried to do it again but then she made another step backward._

_“Are you afraid of me…?” he asked hesitantly what made Mikasa shake her head. “What’s wrong? Oh, c’mon, let’s go to my room!”_

_Without waiting for permission, Eren grabbed his new acquaintance’s hand and led her upstairs to his room. It was neither too big nor too small but there was a lot of interesting things. Minerals, encyclopedias, a globe covered with colorful circle stickers, and some maps on the walls were only a small part of those._

_“I’m sorry for this mess, I wasn't expecting you…” the boy scratched his head._

_In fact, his room wasn’t cluttered that much but Eren’s mom was always expecting neatness from him, and she was telling him to clean up there so many times that he started to believe in this mess. But Mikasa was interested in the globe more than the room itself._

_“…You like it?” the boy approached the globe. “Someday I’m gonna go there.”_

_“…Where…?” she asked quietly._

_“Everywhere. One sticker means a place I want to go to. There is a lot of them, as you see. Alaska, Scotland, the Himalayas, Egypt… There is so many things I need to see.”_

_“Why so many?”_

_“Why, you ask?” he giggled. “The world is full of wonders, so my friend and I want to see them all. Like pyramids, for example. Or the aurora borealis…”_

_Then Mikasa’s eyes has shined._

_“C… Can I go with you?”_

_At first, Eren was kind of surprised but then he grinned at her._

_“Sure! The more of us will come, the happier the journey will be!”_

Eren has been supervised by therapist for the next few days because of lack of sanity in the story he kept telling his parents. They didn’t want to believe in story about white sleigh Mikasa came into and ice on the road. Eren knew himself it was impossible but he was also convinced these events were true. He knew what he saw. White-haired woman has captured his sister and flown away in her carriage like Santa Claus. That's what happened though it sounded crazy. He also had no doubts about who was the culprit here. All of those strange events started when he bought the Wish Stone, so he assumed that he should talk to person who has sold it to him. In that case, when the sessions with therapist were over, he and Armin went near the boardwalk and visited the “Wonderland” shop.

“We don’t accept returns.” Hanji said as Eren told her about the Stone.

“Excuse me?!” the boy shouted.

“Don’t shout, please. I’m not responsible for what the customer is going to do with the product. All of my job is to sell it.”

“At least tell me how to take this wish back! What I saw wasn’t normal and I truly doubt this little shit could make my sister back!”

“What did you saw then?”

“A woman in white big sleigh who took my sister away and vanished into thin air!”

Hearing these words, Hanji opened her eyes widely and looked at Eren with dead seriousness.

“…A woman, you say?”

“Yes! I know it sounds crazy but it’s true! And there was so freaking cold, and…”

“How did she look like?”

“… Y-You know, like an ordinary lady but she had white hair and she was wearing fur… But nevermind! Where did I…!”

“Dear boy!”

Hearing the shop assistant’s loud voice, the lad became silent and gulped, while his friend winced.

“I’m afraid you have no idea who honored you with their presence. The person who kidnapped your sister is no one…” after saying this, she approached the shelf full of old books and took out one of them. “...but the **Snow Queen**.”

Eren couldn’t believe his own ears, just like Armin who finally decided to speak up.

“I’m sorry but… Isn’t ‘The Snow Queen' just… You know… A fairytale?”

“Nothing of the sort, dear! You must know that the late H.C. Andersen was writing only about the things he saw with his own eyes. You think Gerda really did defeated the Queen? Well, she didn’t! She was brave, it’s true, yet she didn’t know that the Queen has been erased from this world only for few centuries.”

 Ignoring Eren’s confusion, she opened the book on page which was the picture of white-haired woman and showed it up to boys.

“According to the story, Gerda has arrived the palace before the first blizzard’s ending. In fact, she did this before Kai’s heart almost became completely frozen. I’m willing to say that if the Queen was able to return, it means that her power managed to become stronger, so I highly recommend you to hurry. Don’t ask how did I know all of this, the masters don’t reveal their secrets.”

“B-But where did she take her then?” said Eren grabbing the book. “…It doesn’t make any sense! I can’t afford a travel to Lapla…!”

But as he took his look off of the fairytales book, he quickly found out that Hanji wasn’t around anymore. He didn’t even notice when she managed to leave.

“…Where the hell is she…?”

“E-Eren, look at the book…” Armin pointed at the page that suddenly changed from The Snow Queen’s portrait to the map of Alaska. Eren wasn’t able to understand how the story book transformed into an atlas of geography but soon he realized that there were more important things he should think about. Especially that the map was colored with red marker in some point.

“Let’s get out of here…” he said, then he put the book back in the counter and went toward front door with Armin. He was about to go through it when he bumped into someone. That man was short and small but had a face with menacing expression that gave Eren goose bumps.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…”

“Right, right. Get out my way, brat.”

Then Eren has been pushed away to the right side what he considered as an additional excuse to leave this shop right in this moment. He was silent for half of the way home until his friend decided to grab his arm.

“Say something, please. I’m worried about you.” Armin said.

"Something like?"

"Well... Like what you're going to do for example. What's your decision?”

“Well, I gotta go to Alaska, of course.”

“...Wait, what?!”

“Why are you so surprised? I'm going to get my sister back and kick the Snow Queen’s ass.”

“Don’t tell me you actually believed it!”

“Armin. After what I saw back then, I’m able to believe in every single thing that is at least a bit extraordinary.”

 

_“Not here.” murmured Mikasa, closing her drawer._

_“Not here.” she groaned slamming the wardrobe doors._

_“Where is it?” after checking the space under her bed, she sat on the floor with disappointed expression on her face. This was the first trip in the mountains for the first time in a long time, and she couldn’t find her scarf. She loved the snow very much, so it sounded almost like a bad dream to her. Especially that they were about to leave._

_“Mikasa, what takes you so long?” Carla urged her daughter while waiting downstairs for her._

_The girl sighed heavily and ran to the railing._

_“I can’t find my scarf!” she screamed._

_“Did you look for it in the wardrobe?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Your jacket?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Maybe it’s…”_

_“Yes! I’ve been looking for it everywhere and I didn’t find it!” she was about to cry. She couldn’t go to the mountains without the scarf so this meant that she had to stay in home what she didn’t want to do. Carla, on the other hand, looked at Mikasa with concern._

_“Well, it can’t be helped now. We’ll buy another one for you. Come – daddy and Eren are waiting in the car.”_

_The girl went downstairs with sad face and followed her mom to the car. As soon as the door has been closed, Grisha looked behind to check if the kids buckled up themselves but instead of hitting the road, he frowned._

_“Where is your scarf?” he asked._

_“It’s lost.” his wife replied before Mikasa could open her mouth. “We’ll have to look for a new one”_

_The idea of buying another scarf seemed good but Eren noticed that his sister was still sad. She was very attached to the old one because their mother has knit it, just like that one the boy had wrapped around his neck. Her sadness was understandable – the woman has worked so hard, and she had lost it._

_He couldn’t look at this anymore. After short consideration, he took off his scarf and gave it to Mikasa._

_“Here. You can keep it forever if you want. I don’t like it anyway.”_

_“What was THAT supposed to mean?!” Carla shouted._

_“I wanted it blue, and you’ve been so stubborn about red!”_

_Grisha who was already irritated with this prolonging, inserted the key into the ignition and finally hit the road. Eren and his mom didn’t seem like they cared about it so they continued their exchange of views. Mikasa wasn’t listening to them. She had no idea why the boy just gave her his scarf if she was about to get a new one soon. Nevertheless, a small part of her mind was telling her that he did this to comfort her, so she felt thankful to him. She immediately put her brother’s scarf on herself._

**_So warm…_ **

“No way!” Carla shouted when Eren came out with idea of going to Alaska. He knew she was going to react like this but he decided to not to give up.

“Mom, I know this is crazy but this is the only one lead I’ve managed to find and if there is any chance to…”

“No way, young man. You’re not going to Alaska, especially not after what happened to your sister.”

“I told you she has been captured by the Snow Queen!”

“That’s enough. Take your medicine.” the woman gave him a small box of pills that the psychiatrist has prescribed to him.

“Mom, I’m not sick!”

“Yes, you are. Take it.”

“Mom, stop it!”

“I said, TAKE IT.”

“HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I AM?!”

In that moment, the silence has fallen. Carla was looking at her son with concern, while he turned back and went upstairs to his room, giving no damn about the pills.

“In my humble opinion, you should let him go.” said Grisha taking his look off of the newspaper. “He’s right. He’s not a little kid anymore.”

“I don’t care how old he is! As long as he lives under my roof I won’t let anyone hurt him!”

“That’s why I think you’re wrapping him in cotton wool. The truth is that you won’t always be around to protect him.  Sooner or later he’ll have to leave his family home and you won’t stop him.”

The woman sighed.

“…Then what am I supposed to do?” she asked. “He’s too young, Grisha. I won’t forgive myself if something bad happen to him.”

“You have to trust him. After all, he’s our son, not some wimp.”

Grisha was right. This was so unfair that it hurt. She couldn’t help it, she was always concerned about her children, especially that one of them was lost now. She didn’t want to let Eren go on so long journey if he kept telling about some Snow Queen. However, if the police didn’t find anything until today, and Eren said that he found something… But why did it has to be so far? He could go and never be back!

Even so, Carla convinced herself that there was no other choice, so she went upstairs to her son’s room. He immediately took his look off of the computer’s screen and glanced at her with surprise and a bit of fear.

“Eren…”

“Yes…?”

She took a deep breath.

“…If you really want to go, put some warm clothing on yourself.”

The boy made big eyes.

“So you believe me? I-I mean, you agree?”

“Well, I can’t tell if I believe in your story about the Snow Queen… But I allow you to go.”

He only smiled and approached his mother, then he hugged her tightly. She hugged him in return, kissing his temple.

“Don’t worry, mom. Armin is going with me so I’ll be safe.”  
“Please, be careful.” she whispered not holding back her tears. “Remember to phone us every day.”

“It’s gonna be okay.” Eren moved away from his mother and looked at her teary eyes. “I promise – I’ll let you know as soon as we’ll find her.”

 

The aerospace was unusually clear this morning. That meant no air traffic jams, better access to the airport, and faster arrival in Alaska. Eren was quite happy about it because he wanted to teach the Snow Queen a lesson more than anybody. Neither flying between the clouds nor looking through small window in airplane didn’t help him with getting rid of these thoughts. Only Armin managed to do this when he offered a cup of hot chocolate to his friend.

“I can’t believe my mom just borrowed me her private jet!” he started putting the drink on coffee table in front of the boy. “I thought it’s gonna be harder to convince her. Sometimes she can be really overprotective.”

Eren nodded and drank some chocolate, and so did Armin after sitting in front of him.

“Are you nervous…?” he asked hesitantly.

“A lot. But it’s nothing compared to what I’m going to do with the Snow Queen when I’ll finally find her.”

Arlert swallowed his saliva.

“You say such things with face so straight that it worries me.”

“I’m sorry… I just feel sick if I only think about it.”

“Don’t think about it then.”

“I can’t!” Eren shouted. “My sister is somewhere out there, lonely and frozen, and probably in some ice prison, while I’m just sitting here and drinking chocolate! This makes me nervous but I don’t want to end it. It would seem like giving up. I can’t stop thinking about it. Not yet.”

Armin sighed and looked sadly at his reflection in his drink.

“I’m still confused about how did this all happen.” he said. “I don’t think Mikasa would be a person who talks to strangers.”

“And what am I supposed to say? She was never making any scenes. Okay, we’ve been fighting sometimes but we could always come to an agreement with each other. And now nothing like that happened. I’m pretty sure it’s also the Queen’s fault. And this little shit, too!” he took the Wish Stone to his hand. “I swear, as soon as we go back home, I…”

Eren didn’t finish because in this moment the airplane has swayed strongly what caused the fall of boys from their armchairs.

“…What was that?” he asked with fear in his eyes.

“I-I don’t know… But it didn’t seem like turbulences to me.” replied Armin who immediately ran to the pilot’s cabin. “Gerard, what’s happening? Henry?”

“Not good, sir.” Gerard informed. “It seems like our left wing has been damaged somehow!”

“The engine stopped working it’s neither separated nor overheated.” Henry added. “Actually… The temperature is going down!”

Suddenly the airplane has swayed again, and the picture of it on computer’s screens showed no connection to second wing.

“Right wing has been damaged!” Henry screamed. “We’re going to lose the altitude in a minute!”

“Armin, come here!”

Hearing Eren’s voice, the boy exited the cabin and saw his friend looking through the glass nervously.

“Damn that woman!” he bellowed. “She froze our wings!”

Indeed. They could see the wing being covered with ice and hoarfrost. It looked ominous especially that the jet’s nose has leaned down.

“We’re losing the altitude!” shouted Gerard, who tried to navigate the plane with Henry but they couldn’t manage it. The machine has been taken out of their control and soon they’ve founf themselves under the clouds.

“I’m sorry, sir!” Henry stuck his head out of the cabin. “I guess we have to jump!”

“Do we have enough of parachutes?!”

“We do! Don’t you worry, sir!”

Short after leaving the cabin, the pilots took out the parachutes, helmets, and goggles. Soon, all the four stood up at the plane’s exit door, prepared to emergency jumping.

“Attention! We’ll be jumping in Indian file!” Gerard decreed. “On three! One… Two…”

As soon as the man shouted “three”, they started to leave the machine, one after another. When they opened up their parachutes, Armin looked at his mother’s jet for the last time and groaned out loud.

“My mom is gonna kill me!”

 _ **You’re right, being killed by those frozen wings would be better than being killed by your own mother.,**_ Eren thought, then he focused on pilots who were instructing them how and where to land. Luckily, there was an open space a few hundred kilometers under their feet. The boy was only concerned if they were far from Alaska, or if they were close. After safe landing on some huge meadow, Armin managed to go out from under his parachute and, to his despair, he saw the jet that was still going down to the ground, and soon it has been crashed what he assumed by muffled clunk and cloud of smoke in the distance. Heartbroken boy was kneeling on the ground while looking at this disaster with sad expression. Meanwhile, Eren approached him, being as shocked as his friend.

“Uh… I’ll take it back to you!” he said, smiling nervously.

“It was worth five thousand dollars…” groaned Armin, what his friend took as a signal to not speak about it anymore.

However, Armin got over this quickly – he wiped off his tears and went to Gerard and Henry who has landed nearby.

“ How’s the situation going?” he asked. “Do you know where we are?”

Henry took off his parachute and goggles.

“Uh, so: our luggage is totally gone, I left my phone in the jet, we have absolutely no idea why the engines stopped working but the only good thing is that I see the Yukon River in the distance so I can dare to say that we’re in Alaska.”

Hearing this, the smiles appeared both on Armin’s and Eren’s faces. All the four picked themselves up and then went willingly through the forest. Some time later, they found themselves on a road what cheered them up because according to what the boys has learnt on scout camps – ‘you find a road, you will find a town’.

“Sir!” called Gerard after some time. “I think I know where we are!”

Soon they saw a sign that was telling ‘Welcome to Fort Yukon’, and right after this the town appeared in front of them.

It looked like every other town. It wasn’t outstanding that much but it didn’t bother them at all. The only thing they need was somewhere to sleep. And eat. Eren started to have a strong rumble in his stomach. Lucky for him, Gerard used to live here so he knew this town through and trough, and soon they were on a way to the “Sourdough Inn” hotel. Good that it had vacancies.

“Welcome to the ‘Sourdough Inn’~! How can I help you?” they’ve been greeted by some girlish voice that belonged to a certain young lady who approached Gerard as soon as she saw him. “GERARD! Oh my gosh, it’s been a while!”

They kissed each other’s cheeks.

“Guys, let me introduce to you – this is my friend, Anna. She and her sister are the owners of this hotel. By the way, is Elsa around?”

“Yeah. Go look for her in the staff room, or upstairs. But I think she should be in the walk-in freezer.”

The pilot nodded and then disappeared in the corridor behind Anna’s back.

“Now, please come closer to the counter! You’re lucky that the only one room is taken!” saying this, the girl stood up behind the counter. “So. How many rooms? For how much time? Do you want a balcony or it doesn’t matter?”

“One room with two beds, it doesn’t matter if it will be with the balcony or not. But it comes to length of our stay, I would like to rent it for as long as possible because…”

Eren became silent for a moment. To be honest, he didn’t know how much time it will take him to get the Snow Queen.

“…Let it stay between us, okay? Look, miss… We’re actually looking for someone.” he said with dead seriousness, changing his voice into whisper. “…That person has captured my sister few days ago, and all traces led me here, to Alaska. So if it won’t cause any trouble, I would like you to not to tell anyone that we’re here.”

“Of course.” Anna said. “It’s not a big deal for us, hoteliers. So, what are your names?”

 

She was angry with herself. If she was able to change the color of her face, it surely would be red in this moment. She could neither accept or understand why that little brat was still alive. She was sure that freezing the airplane’s wings will do anything but she overreached herself. The world used to be much simpler when little Gerda was around. Now, some centuries has passed and she had to look for a new angles. She couldn’t let this boy arrive her palace just now. Her plans would come to naught then.

The Queen was about to lose her cool in front of her mirror, when Mikasa entered her chamber. In that case, the woman quickly transformed a real reflection of Eren into the false one.

“How do I look?” the girl asked, touching the folds of her new white dress. The Queen smiled and went closer to her.

 _“Oh, you’re beautiful. You look as if you were going to the ball.”_ she said, kissing her forehead.

“I’ve never been on a ball…”

_“We can organize one if you want.”_

“With pleasure… But what were you looking at in that mirror, if I may ask?”

_“Nothing. I’m pretty sure I told you it shows only things that happens in the world. Wars, murders, robberies, bad situations… But what I saw a while ago would surely break your heart.”_

The girl frowned.

“I want to see it anyway.”

The Queen embraced her with her left arm and led her to the mirror that showed Eren. He was lying peacefully on his bed and read some magazine while listening to music. He seemed to not care about his sister who had run away from home. As if he forgot he actually had her.

Mikasa changed her mind. She didn’t want to look at it anymore so he turned her look away from the mirror.

“It hurts…” she muttered.

The Queen smiled gently, then she patted her head, took a hairbrush, and started to brush Mikasa’s hair.

“I would claw out his eyes if he was worth it.” the girl continued. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t get him out of my head… Maybe if I would stop exist, I wouldn’t have to suffer…?”

 _“Oh, don’t say such things.”_ said the Queen calmly. _“You can’t change the world. Some ones get over some things and have a long life, and the others just forget.”_

“It’s not so easy… Especially the ones who backstabbed you.”

_“It IS if only I’m around!”_

Mikasa looked at the woman with interest.

_“After some time spent in my company, people start to forget everything what makes them sad, or angry, or disgusted, or frightened. Only calm remains, and your new life just awaits you.”_

“..Can you really do this?”

_“I can and I will. I’ll do anything to make you happy.”_

To conclude, the Queen embraced Mikasa what made the girl feel amazing. She felt like she has been hugged by her own mother. Actually, why not? If her real parents didn’t want her and she wasn’t related to Jeager’s family at all, it seemed to be better on side of a person who truly understood her than live under the roof that belonged to a bunch of liars.

“…I want to forget.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the memory of my beloved grandmother. 
> 
> Rest in peace, Granny. I love you so much.


	5. Frozen Heart - Night Rainbow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uf... I'm sorry, it's been a while. I had to clean up a certain mess but everything is okay now.  
> I'm just going to say that two more chapters and we'll be going to the end of this arc (goddammit, finally). And now, enjoy~ (if I'm allowed to say so)

...Eren was totally exhausted. Breathless and frozen. Armin had it worse especially that he needed to rest on sofa next to fireplace. He even got a blanket while his friend was sitting on the floor and warming his palms, cursing today’s day. They accomplished nothing. They’ve been looking for her everywhere and asked probably everyone about her. There wasn’t a single proof that Mikasa would be here, and nobody even heard about big white sleigh and mysterious woman. He was so tired and upset that he would ask Armin to let him sit on the sofa if he was selfish enough.

“Eren…” Arlert spoke.

“What?” responded Eren flatly.

“Can you guess what am I willing to drink…?”

“I can’t. What?”

“I would sell my soul for one cup of a hot chocolate…”

“Shut up, now I want it, too. I don’t know how am I supposed to bring it to you.”

“Go and ask your stone for it. Perhaps somebody else will do it…”

“NO. I asked it for something once, and twice, and even above three times. I’ll never ask this shit for anything again.”

However, Eren didn’t need  to ask the Stone for anything to fulfill Armin’s wish. Elsa just arrived the room carrying a plate with four cups of hot chocolate. She was with Anna who took one of them.

“Are you feeling better now?” Elsa asked Armin who was trying to get up.

“I’m still a bit dizzy but it could be worse.” he responded and did the same as Anna. And so did Eren but he wasn’t about to taste the drink. Thinking deeply about all that happened to him, he simply stopped to think about anything, and started to stare blankly into space in front of him. And because of this he didn’t even notice Anna who sat next to him.

“You’ll feel better if you drink it.” she encouraged him.

But the boy has lost his will to drink chocolate so he ignored the girl’s words and put the cup down. Seeing this, she stopped smiling.

“Yeah…” she said quietly, putting one of her reddish braids behind her ear.  “…Uhm, forgive me my nosiness but… What exactly happened to your sister? You know, I’m asking because… I mean, I don’t usually do this, right? But I just have a strange feeling that there is something more about this case… O-Of course, if this is absolutely different then I…”

“…Actually, you’re right. That’s kinda awkward. I rarely meet people who would be so concerned about some stranger’s feelings.” the boy interrupted.

Anna made a small nervous laugh.

“Y-Yeah, I’ve been like this for ages… I just can’t stand a thought that somebody around me would feel bad, so… You do understand, don’t you?”

Eren nodded.

“If so, that’s good, I guess.”

The smile on girl’s face convinced him to let it go. She has guessed it right – except his urge to find Mikasa and kick the Snow Queen’s butt, there was something else that was bothering him. It wasn’t that woman. It wasn’t also the Wish Stone. Finally he started to realize who was the real culprit here.

“…It’s me.” he whispered. “It’s all because of me… Of course, it was me from the very beginning.”

“What are you saying?”

“You heard, Armin.”

“I thought it’s because of the Stone.”

“Me, too!” he cried. “I’ve been trying to convince myself that this thing is the only culprit and… Though it is truth… I was the one who started this. I was the one who wished Mikasa to not help me anymore. I was the one who’s been always pushing her away when she was doing her best for me… I’m just the worst brother ever.”

Now that he realized this, he couldn’t get rid of unpleasant feeling in his throat. He was feeling awful and nothing that was around him couldn’t change that. Even Armin who’s presence was always making all of Eren’s concerns go away. He wasn’t blaming his best friend for his bad mood, of course. He thought he deserved to feel this way. So he has been like this until he felt someone's palms on his left shoulder.

“I may not exactly know what happened between you and your sister but I do know a lot about siblings.” Anna patted him on the back. “Look – when I was a kid, I had a serious fight with Elsa. I've sworn to myself that I'm never going to talk to her again and I was successfully doing this for the next few days. But one day I forgot about this and asked her if she would want to build a snowman, and she was like 'So you're not angry with me anymore?', and I was like 'Angry? Why should I? For what?'. And as I finally remembered what she meant, I was so ashamed that it's embarrassing to even talk about it. Especially that I was the one who has started that fight. You know what? It turned out that she was feeling guilty, too, and even wanted to say sorry but she couldn't find fitting words. We've been crying and hugging each other, and soon we’ve forgotten about everything. The end~!”

“What are you trying to say…?” asked Eren who was a bit confused by her story.

“The siblings will always find a common ground. Trust me, sun always comes out after storm.”

“Well… She's not really my sister. By blood, I mean… She's adopted.”

“Oh, it doesn't matter. Just considering her as a family member is enough.”

He had to admit that Anna was right. He’s been fighting with Mikasa so many times that he couldn’t count and they were always able to make up with each other. In other words, he felt he should just try one more time as soon as he will find her. That’s it. There was no time for breaking down. He had to be strong especially now that he was so close. He had to find Mikasa, make up with her, and bring her back home. And no damn Snow Queen could stop him.

 

 _“They are beautiful, Mikasa.”_ said the Queen, looking at the girl’s art. Mikasa was sitting on the cold floor next to throne and creating compositions with ice crystals. So amazing that every single sculptor in the world would be proud of these. She herself didn’t know she could do this but it didn’t matter to her anyway. Looking at flower bas-reliefs and other pictures she did, she realized that she didn’t care if those ones were pretty or ugly. Those were just… existing. That’s all. Those didn’t make her feel anything except cold that suddenly started to bother her, so she embraced herself.

 _“What is wrong?”_ the Queen asked.

“…I… I’m cold…” replied Mikasa with trembling voice.

_“Fear not. Soon it will pass.”_

“…I-I know… I know it will but… Couldn’t I get something… To cover up…? Just a bit…?”

Without a word, the Queen went closer to her and conjured a white and soft scarf around Mikasa’s neck. Then she sat next to her frozen guest and embraced her with right arm. Now, Mikasa was still trembling but she didn’t feel such cold anymore.

_“Better, Mikasa?”_

The girl nodded in response.

_“Do you like the scarf?”_

“To be honest… I don’t know…”

 _“I see. Now, tell me… Do you know what is love?”_ asked the woman, patting Mikasa’s head.

The girl opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but quickly shut it. She thought she knew what it was but it turned out that she didn’t.

_“And friendship?”_

She didn’t know that, too, so she only shook her head.

_“Good… And warm?”_

“I don… Wait… I **do** know.”

That response has surprised the Queen.

“…Warm is something you feel when somebody gives you a roof over your head, or embraces you… Or puts a clothing on you… I remember when I lost my scarf, and Eren…”

 _“EREN?”_ the woman snarled with dissatisfaction in her voice what made Mikasa wince because she realized what she just said.

“I… I mean…” she tried to justify herself but the Queen made her quiet by stroking her hair and kissing her forehead.

 _“It is okay.”_ she said calmly. _“It is not your fault. It is me who went too far.”_

The sound of her solid voice calmed the girl.

_“Mikasa, you must remember that feelings are for weak beings. You are not weak, so you do not need them. But there is nothing to be afraid of – soon you will not have to worry about anything. You will forget everything that you do not need.”_

Mikasa nodded.

“Yes… I will…”

 

The room of Eren and Armin had a balcony, so it was possible for them to see aurora borealis in the best way… If only the sky wasn’t so cloudy today. The owners of this hotel were asleep for hours, just like Armin who became horribly tired from waiting and asked Eren to wake him up if the lights would finally appear. In that case, Jaeger has been left alone on the balcony. He was leaning on the railing, being wrapped in a warm blanket. Waiting for the clear sky, he was thinking about where he should start to look for Mikasa. Though he was close, he was still too far. He did everything but had nothing that would help him. Anna and Elsa didn’t know anything, and he didn’t want to risk being considered by them as some crazy. How would it be if he came out with something like _“Hey, don’t you know if the Snow Queen was here? I have to kick her ass before she’ll freeze my sister for good”_? He couldn’t imagine it. If only there was some other trace… He would do anything just to find it.

At last he felt cold, and the sky wasn’t clear at all, so he decided to go to the bed. But before he could approach the door, something has shined behind his back. It wasn’t from the moon because that light was greenish, and that forced him to look backward. It turned out that the clouds started to pass revealing the long-awaited afterglow. Seeing this, Eren ran over to Armin’s bed and shook him to wake him up but he only snored something in response. Jaeger couldn’t picture himself watching the northern lights without his best friend but he also didn’t want to miss it. In that case, he gave up on waking Armin and went outside the hotel in the blink of an eye. Now, aurora borealis was completely revealed by clouds and it looked incredibly amazing. He saw no only the green but also blue, and purple, and red, and even yellow. This was more beautiful than any rainbow, or gem he’d ever seen. The cold didn’t even bother him. He was just standing on deserted street and admiring the first aurora borealis in his life.

It has been like this until he saw some strange streak of light that flew in Eren’s direction, and right after this the other ones appeared and did the same. The boy was both amazed and frightened when those lights started flying all around him but he calmed down a bit when they started whispering in his mind.

_“Fear not, mortal. We are not going to hurt you.”_

_“We are just the spirits of creatures that lived here long, long time ago.”_

_“We know the world order. We know how it was, how it is, and how it will be.”_

_“We judge, we praise, we punish.”_

_“We know what you did to your sister. We also know that you understood your sin. We know where is the Snow Queen’s palace and we will help you find it.”_

Eren’s heart started to beat a little faster as he heard these words. He was still a bit shocked but if those voices were saying so, and he didn’t know another way, then maybe he should try to listen to them? To be honest, he was expecting something else but some ancient spirits were better than nothing. He was about to say something when the lights transformed into beam that was reminding Eren of a waterfall.

_“Touch it.”_

“…What…?”

_“Touch it. Do not be afraid.”_

“…It must be a dream…” he commented frowning.

However, he decided to grant the spirit’s wish. He moved closer to the blue waterfall carefully and reached his hand out trying to touch it. He was close. Very close. And when his hand finally touched the light, the beam has gone blast what made Eren close his eyes and cover his face. The blue afterglow changed it color from blue to gold, and then the boy saw silhouettes of animals that he has read about in his encyclopedias. He wasn’t able to say a word when he finally revealed his face and opened his eyes – he’d never think that one day he would actually see the mammoths, the sabre-toothed tigers, the buffalos, or even grizzly bears from close-up. Comparing to the aurora borealis, this view was unable to describe with any words – neither positive, nor negative. Any bird he ever seen in biology textbooks was now flying over his head, and one of them even left their shadow on Eren’s shirt but soon it disappeared. However, the boy had no time to think about this deeper because in this moment the lights he met earlier appeared in front of him, forming something that was kind of a mirror. He had his heart in his throat when he saw Mikasa in it – she evidently seemed bad. Eyes washed out of any emotions, unnaturally pale complexion, livid lips, and hair white in the middle – all of this was only confirming in his belief that he had no time to waste.

“Please, if you really know where she is – tell me, I beg you!”

He didn’t have to wait so long – suddenly the “mirror” disappeared, and the streaks of light that were making it, transformed into grizzly bear somewhere near him. The animal looked at Eren and encouraged him to follow it into the forest by moving it’s head. The boy wasn’t sure if he could trust the creature but then he realized that he had no choice after all. As he approached the grizzly, he has been thrown at his spine.

 _“Easy! It will be faster this way!”_ said the bear what made the boy feel as if he misheard.

“Y-You can talk?!”

_“Of course! Like everybody. My name is Kenai, by the way.”_

“…I-I’m Eren, nice to meet you… I guess…”

_“Alright, buckle up, Eren. This ride is gonna be fast!”_

Before the lad could say anything, Kenai hit the road while the northern lights slowly started to blur. They have been fast. Jaeger didn’t have to worry that his mount would get tired because he was spirit but instead of this he started to be concerned about another problem he had to solve right now. And this time it wasn’t about Mikasa.

“Wait! Halt!” he commended what made the bear stop.

_“What’s up?”_

“My friends! I can’t do this without them! I have to go back!”

_“Seriously? Couldn’t you tell me earlier?”_

Eren only scratched the back of his head, and Kenai didn’t say anything but turned his steps to the town.

 

“…Hold on, let me think…” Armin rubbed his temple. “The aurora borealis has changed into some lights that has flown to you and said they know where Mikasa is. Then they exploded and you saw prehistoric animals, and in the end one of those lights transformed into a bear that is waiting for you outside, now. Please, don’t get me wrong but are you definitely sure it wasn’t a dream?”

“I would remember I went to my bed if I was dreaming! Please, Armin, you have to believe me!”

“I may not look like I do but trust me, I do. I’m just telling you how it sounds. But you know… If we have to go NOW and we won’t be back before sunset, then what are we gonna tell the owners if they see us in the front door?”

“We’ll think about it later. In this moment, I’m only interested in finding Mikasa and getting rid of the Snow Queen.”

“…Did you say ‘The Snow Queen’?” heard Eren behind his back. It was Anna and Elsa who accidentally heard their talk. The boy gulped. He didn’t know what to expect from the sisters, though they didn’t look amused. However, he was still staring at their faces without any idea what he should say. And then, before he could open his mouth, Armin has spoken.

“Y-You must have been misheard! He said ‘The Show of Queen’! This is Eren’s favorite band! He had a dream about them and he wanted to talk…”

From Eren’s point of view, this excuse seemed convincing enough (though it wasn’t true) but seeing Elsa’s and Anna’s expressions, the plan has failed.

“I’m pretty sure I know what I’ve heard. And you, Elsa?”

The older sister took a deep breath.

“Look…” she started. “It may sound a bit awkward but you don’t have to hide the truth from us. We actually do know who are you talking about and if we could help somehow, the just let us know.”

That made them feel confused. Both Eren and Armin were afraid that the girls will think they were crazy.

“…What do you know about her then?” Jaeger asked.

“Maybe you should sit?” Anna offered.

Without protesting, Eren took a seat next to Armin. Then the sisters looked at each other and nodded, turning their eyes on boys.

“So… The whole thing is that the Snow Queen…” Anna started.

“…Is our ancestress.” Elsa finished.

This message was definitely not what they expected. Armin, because it was the first time he had to deal with something like this. Eren, because all this time he’s been sure that he was all alone in this. Of course, he wasn’t blaming his friend for not believing sometimes in his words (he certainly wouldn’t believe it if he didn’t got mixed up in this situation) but in fact – he was feeling alone in what he was seeing. And now it happened that there were people who also knew the Queen.

“…You’re not kidding, aren’t you?” he asked to make sure.

Elsa shook her head.

“This story has been around in our family for generations. It all started in the Great Winter when our ancestors decided to leave their motherland to find a better living conditions…”


	6. Frozen Heart - The Woman and the Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is basically the Snow Queen's backstory. I hope it doesn't look that cliche as I think .-."

...“I’m cold, mommy…” moaned the little girl who was lying on bed under three really thick blankets. She was covered with almost everything that has been in their house but her teeth were still clanging, and her little hands and feet were completely frozen. Nevertheless, her mother didn’t know what else she could do to keep her daughter warm. She would put her cape on the girl but then she would freeze herself. And suddenly a certain idea came in her mind – she went under her daughter’s comforter and hugged her tightly.

“Better, Marie?” she asked, and her child nodded.

Lisa never liked Winter. Not only moving was more difficult than usual and going outside could cause a disease or death of freezing but the products price was coming up. It was hard to provide well-being of oneself, let alone the children. One of them was sitting near a fireplace trying to warm up themselves and the second was so sick that she couldn’t even get up from bed.

The woman wished she and her children has born in the royal castle. The nobility may not be free from diseases but surely they had a better healthcare than peasants. Maybe she would have a chance to cure her little and sickly Marie if she was a queen. She would do anything to make her daughter happy.

She was about to fall asleep when somebody knocked the door. Lisa didn’t have a habit of opening the strangers so she got up from the bed only after hearing the voice of her friend, Agda.

“Lars, could you lie down next to Marie? I’m going to look who is there.”

The boy stood up and lied next to his sister, and their mother approached the door and opened it. After a moment, a certain woman with scarf on her head came into the cottage, carrying big and fat fish wrapped in linen fabric.

“I just thought it would be useful for you.” Agda said.

“Thank you…” Lisa took the fish and put it on the table. Then she sat next to the fireplace with her friend.

“Are you alright?” asked Agda unsurely.

Her friend perfectly knew what she meant so she only nodded, staring at the fire.

“So quiet without him…” Lisa’s quest continued. “I miss his jokes a lot…”

Lisa sighed heavily. She missed the jokes of her husband, too – she missed his voice, his smile, his eyes, everything she loved about him. Everything was different until Nils has been still with them. The children has been happier, she used to smile often, and the atmosphere was way better. Yes, Lisa’s husband was not only the head of their family but also the light that could brighten even the darkest corners of the cottage…

But he wasn’t here anymore. He was gone. He has been taken away by this darned Winter. He passed away while suffering though it all started from an innocent cold.

“Have you…” Agda started. “…Changed your mind about the exodus?”

“I’m staying here. Don’t ask me why.” responded Lisa coldly.

Winter this year was so cruel that most of the villagers planned to leave this place. Despite the frost, they decided to pull themselves together and build a ship so they would be able to sail these parts of sea that weren’t covered with ice. They had lack of money to pay taxes and also needed to provide themselves so they had to hurry. However, even if most of the villagers was agreeing with each other, there were still those ones that didn’t approve this idea, including Lisa. She was convinced that every single one who wants to sail will die from cold instead of finding some land fit for living. That’s why she didn’t want neither herself nor her children to take part in this event.

“The ship is ready.” Agda continued. “You can still change your mind…”

“NO. I’m done.” replied Lisa roughly. “You know why I don’t want to leave. So why do you still try to change my mind? I’m not going to leave, especially not after what happened to Nils. His grave is here. I can’t just leave.”

Agda sighed heavily.

“…I’m not forcing. You’ll do as you like.” she said, then stood up and patted her friend’s shoulder. “Anyway, you know where you can find me. I hope we’ll meet one day, Lisa.”

Lastly, she left her alone with her children. After a while of thinking, Lisa was willing to believe Agda’s words. On the one hand, staying here could happen to be their death – there was lack of food and livelihood, and little Marie was in strong need to see the doctor. But on the other hand, it wasn’t told that there was no death on the sea among this merciless cold. Those concerns took control of Lisa’s sense again. She couldn’t let anyone else of her family to suffer because of Winter.

“I think we should listen to auntie Agda…” she heard the voice of Lars who wasn’t aware of what his mother felt in this moment. She herself stood up from the fireplace and approached the bed.

“What was that supposed to mean…?”

The boy sighed and got up staring at his mother.

“Look… Dad is gone and there is nothing we can do about it. There is already lack of food and it’s going to be even less of it when they will leave. If we are supposed to survive, we have to…”

“We WILL survive. There is no need to leave this village.” saying this, she sat at the table standing nearby her. “Son, you’re still young and you see the world in a different way than mine but the truth is that sea is dangerous so…”

“So what? Better to stay here and die from hunger than drown in the water what takes probably not that much of time?”

“I don’t like your tone, young man!”

“No, mom! I’m sixteen and I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in this house.”

Their fight has been interrupted by quiet moans of little Marie who demanded warm. In that case, the woman and her son became silent, then he lied down on the bad and hugged his little sister again. Lisa only sighed and rested on the table top while burying her head in her arms.

“I just want to protect you…” she said with brittle voice. “I won’t let any of you to get hurt… I don’t want to lose… Neither you… Nor Marie…”

Then she closed her eyes, letting the tears to wet her sleeves, and fell asleep with strong determination to not let any of her children meet the same fate as their father and her beloved husband.

“Mommy will protect you, my little angels… I promise…”

 

_Four doves were sitting on the branch. One of them flew away to gain some food for his family but then wind started blowing. It was so strong the dove couldn’t fly and soon he fell down, frozen to death._

_Three doves were sitting on the branch. The youngest of them started to tremble because suddenly she felt awful. The middle one wanted to go for food but the oldest only snapped her beak what meant that she didn’t allow the dove to go. Then she fell asleep, and the younger doves took the chance and flew away. They met a pigeon that took them with her._

_At the same time, the last of doves woke up. As soon as she realized she was the only one on the branch, she started panicking and…_

…And then Lisa opened her eyes. She wasn’t completely awake yet so she preferred to not rise her head of the table. In this way she could see only the sleeves of her clothing. It felt so warm that she would willingly stay in this position forever. But nothing lasts forever, so when she was finally clear-headed, she yawned and rose up from chair, wanting to wake up her children. However, when she saw the bed, she suddenly had her heart in her throat. It was empty. At first she thought that there was no point in panicking. After all, she didn’t know where were her kids for sure. It was very possible they went to Agda’s place for something to eat. But on the other hand, why would Lars take Marie with him if he knew she was sick and mustn’t get up from bed? And what time was it if the sailors told they were going to sail away in the sunrise, and the sky was too bright for Winter’s morning?

There was no one at Agda’s house what made Lisa even more anxious but she decided to not give up. No way that Lars and Marie would ever leave her. They have probably been walking around the market. They had to be there. Nothing was going to convince her otherwise.

But she kept looking and looking for them all around the village,  has been in homes of her neighbors, asked the fishmongers and dairymen, she has been looking for them in every single place where they could find some food but no one has seen her children, and nobody was home so they could give her an answer. She’s been slowly starting to lose her mind. Could it be possible? No, there had to be some other places Lars could take Marie with him to, and she was about to go find these when she has been accosted by certain old lady selling herbs.

“Are you looking for somebody?” she asked.

“Moa! Thank God! Please, tell me if you saw at least one of my children…”

The woman gave Lisa surprised look.

“My dear, I am not that old to not know what is happening around me. I thought you have allowed them.”

“Have I…? What would I allow them to do…?” asked Lisa being both confused and frightened at the same time.

“What? You are their mother and you do not know?” Moa was outraged. “My sight and hearing are good enough yet. I’ve seen Lars talking to Agda about you and I’ve heard that you allowed him and Marie to sail away with her.”

This message has thrust Lisa completely out of the blue and caused a storm within her heart, stronger than wind that suddenly began to blow. The snow storms weren’t anything new to the villagers so those who were still outside slowly started to go to their homes. Including Moa who left Lisa all alone on almost deserted road. But Lisa was so heartbroken that she didn’t even pay attention on this. She was thinking of something else. She couldn’t understand how dare she had to act so selfish toward her children. Wanting to keep them around, she has minded her own business, and because of this she has convinced her firstborn son that she didn’t act like mother but a woman who was strongly yearning to her husband and nobody needed her.

“Oh, figures… They just don’t need me…”

Until now, she didn’t understand how she could think that her son who was already an adult would need her anymore. And little Marie didn’t have to drink her mother’s milk so Lars could take care of her as well. In that case, what was remaining of Lisa?

Nothing. Nothing at all.

Not being fully aware of what she was doing, she went toward the nearest wood. She didn’t care about what could happen to her anymore. She could die from hunger. She could be eaten alive by wolves or bears. She could even froze to death by oncoming snow storm. It all didn’t matter now. Her husband was gone, and her best friend, and her beloved children – the most precious gifts she’d ever have in her life. She felt so empty that it couldn’t be filled by anyone or anything.

Finally she found herself on a forest glade where the cemetery was placed. The wind was blowing stronger and snow was falling more than before but she managed to approach the grave of Nils. She’d been here few weeks ago but it seemed like eternity to her. Without paying attention on beginning of the snow storm she fell down on her knees in front of the gravestone.

“Oh, dear… I wish you were here…” she sobbed silently. “I’ve been trying to protect our children from your fate… But I’ve failed… I’ve failed you and them… I wasn’t good enough for them so they’ve run away… I tried… I’ve done what I could… And now… Now the Winter will take them away, just like you…”

Lisa was so grief-stricken that she haven’t notice a certain person who slowly started to appear next to her, along with wind and snow that were blowing and falling down stronger. The snowflakes were swirling faster, and soon they took a form of stoop-shouldered old man in ripped and linen coat, who was barefoot and holding a crooked stick in his left hand. He had almost no hair on his head. Thick eyebrows were covering his bright eyes, and his mouth were barely visible because of his dense moustache and goatee. He was terribly pale, colorless as a dead man, and his pointy ears wasn’t improving his look at all. Lisa’s blood froze when she finally realized somebody was standing next to her, and decided to look on the right side. She wasn’t able to read this creature’s face but also couldn’t resist a feeling that he had no good intentions. She was even willing to say that he was a devil or death itself.

“…You came here to punish me, am I right?” she said with voice shakily from cold.

The old man frowned what made his eyes to be even more covered by his eyebrows.

 _“Why would I punish you?”_ he asked. _“You’re not the first mortal who walks in the forest during snow storm. To be honest, I’m flattered.”_

His words made Lisa confused.

“So what do you want…?” she asked. “Why won’t you just leave me alone…?”

 _“Oh, excuse me, where are my manners…”_ the old man bowed surprisingly good as for his stature. _“My name is Frosti.”_

The woman was about to faint. She wasn’t even sure if it was because of cold or if it was because of this man she has been warned about by her parents and grandparents. The Lord and Ruler of Entire Winter, the gnome named Frosti who’s power killed more than one being. Lisa has heard about him more than once and even twice but she would never think he was real. And because of this she didn’t know what this demon would want from her.

“Please, go away…” she asked for with dead voice.

_“Uhm, I can’t go until I help you solve your problems.”_

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Get lost…”

 _“You can’t fool the nature, mortal. I know what is happening within your heart and soul. I’m a spirit, after all. And I’m going to say…”_ he bent over her and changed his tone to extremely gentle. _“… It wasn’t your fault what happened to your children. Why do you blame yourself for something that happened because of Winter, my servant?”_

In this moment Lisa felt a strong urge to punch Frosti in the face. Or strangle him. She would do anything to make him disappear if only she had enough strength to stand up. But now she was half buried in snow and couldn’t even move one of her hands that were already numb because of all the cold. She felt a lump in her throat so strong that she would cry and get drain because of lack of water in her body. Luckily, she controlled herself so there was only one tear that fell down from her eye.

“…If this is your servant… Then why did you order it to make such things…?” she asked with anger. “…What have people done to you that you’re acting so cruel toward them…?” 

 _“Oh, they haven’t done anything. I’m in control of Winter for as long as I can remember.”_ the gnome responded. _“…Or actually… I was.”_

Lisa frowned and looked into the demon’s eyes. Those bright, cool eyes that seemed to be sincere. Seeing her look, Frosti decided to continue his speech.

_“You know, the whole ‘Lord and Ruler of Entire Winter’ title doesn’t really matter. The truth is that I used to control it but I started to age with the passing of time, and it allowed itself to do more. This is what is happening. I am a parent. It is a child. I won’t control it anymore even if really wanted to.”_

The woman only shook her head.

“…You’re lying, gnome…”

 _“I may be a gnome but I have rules unlike the others.”_ he justified himself. _“…Now listen to me. I’m aware you hate Winter a lot. Now look what it did to you and your family. Don’t you think that would be great if you were able to control it?”_

“…Me…?” Lisa was shocked.

She? Why would she want to control something she hated the most in the world? She couldn’t picture this. Neither now nor never. In contrast, Frosti smiled and squatted down next to her.

 _“Do you see anybody else around?”_ he laughed. _“The truth is that nothing lasts forever. I don’t have much time on this world. When I’ll be gone, Winter will go out of control and everyone will die. Including your beloved children. That’s why I need to give my power to somebody until I’m able to and luckily I’ve got you. Unless you don’t want it. Just tell me then.”_

He’d got a point. In practice, Lisa would keep telling him to go and leave her alone but after this she realized she was in a point of no return. If she would have been completely buried in snow, her children would definitely meet the same fate as her husband.

_“What’s your answer, mortal? Did you make your decision yet?”_

Lisa only nodded.

“My children don’t need me anymore… But I will never let them get hurt.” she said with finality. “…Do it. Give me your power.”

In this moment, Frosti’s eyes has shined. After hearing Lisa’s agreement, he rose up from the ground and aimed the sharp end of his stick at her.

_“As you wish, Your Majesty.”_

Before she could react, the gnome has stabbed her heart. She didn’t feel any cold on her skin anymore but the heart seemed to transform into a big piece of pure ice. The snow released her from it’s embrace so she could finally stand up and even hover above the ground. At the same time, Frosti has vanished into thin air keeping holding his stick but Lisa wasn’t able to see it. She changed in a blink of an eye – her complexion became almost completely white, her dark blonde hair became even whiter than the woman’s face and palms, and her country clothing transformed into a beautiful white dress encrusted with hoarfrost and small ice crystals. The new ruler of Winter, as befits the queen, couldn’t do without a sign of her authority so she immediately conjured a crown on her head.

She felt so great as never before – so powerful and independent. She was almost sure she could do anything now. To examine her possibilities, she focused her mind on one simple wish, then she closed her eyes for a while to make them open again and rose her hands up. As she did it, the snow storm has stopped. The wind wasn’t blowing, the snow wasn’t falling anymore. This was amazing. And she was the one who made it. She, who used to be just a common woman from the village. This was what she wanted – to become a queen. But it wasn’t just a title –today Lisa became the Snow Queen and nothing could change that.

“There, there…” she said to herself. “Mommy is coming, my little babies.”

* * *

 

 

“…She has found her kids, told  them her story, and wanted to take them with her.” Elsa finished.

“But they haven’t agreed what made her think that she has had to find another children she would take care of.” added Anna quickly.

In fact, Eren and Armin believed every single word of the girls but they were shocked anyway. Especially Eren because that meant only one – they had to come for her in this moment, not to mention Kenai who was still waiting outside for him. In this case, he rose up from bed.

“I won’t let her transform my sister into a damned icicle. Armin, go dress up, we don’t have the whole night.”

Armin nodded and he was about to grab his trousers when they all heard a bear’s roar. Anna and Elsa were so concerned about it that they went out on the balcony to make sure they didn’t mishear but they were surprised anyway when saw a shining bear in front of the hotel. Luckily, he didn’t wake up anyone.

_“Oh, great! Go tell Eren that better for him to hurry if we are supposed to make it before sunrise!”_

The sisters looked first at themselves, then at Kenai again, and after this Anna went back inside to give the boy the bear’s message. Meanwhile, Elsa stayed on the balcony, staring at the spirit with confused expression on her face.

 

 _“The hell with those damned spirits!”_ bellowed Lisa, covering her mirror behind the curtain. There was no way for her to give up. Not after all she did to make Mikasa her daughter. She couldn’t let this boy to destroy everything, as that Gerda girl did. If he would, another attempt of gaining a child would go down the drain.

_“Oh, no. No way, I have to do something. I will summon a snow storm that Eren kid has never experienced before. It has to be so strong that it will blow him away from this world.”_

There was no time to waste. She had to do it immediately, and she would if Mikasa wasn’t getting in her way. She was just standing in the middle of throne hall but Lisa didn’t want to cast any spells when she was around.

 _“Mikasa…”_ she approached the girl. _“You need to hide. Right now, Eren is on way to the palace and he will definitely want to take you away with him.”_

Mikasa gave her emotionless look and nodded.

“Okay, but… Who is Eren…?”

Hearing this, the Queen smiled softly and embraced the girl, kissing her forehead.

 _“Nobody. But I want you to hide anyway.”_ she said, patting Mikasa’s hair that was completely white now. She, on the other hand, snuggled into the Queen’s chest.

“Alright, mom…”


	7. Frozen Heart - Tears in the Blizzard

...As all the four came in to Elsa’s car, they immediately hit the road. All the time they were following Kenai  who was trying to outrun them, running in the right direction. He might be a spirit but was as fast as these times he was alive. Elsa was holding the steering wheel while flooring and trying to not take her eyes off the bear. Anna was sitting next to her in case she needed to gear up or down. Armin was right behind her, looking out the side window for suspicious phenomena, and so was doing Eren while praying for being on time. Every single moment mattered. Being late and another difficulties like animals or road work were not options. No way. Better for the road to be deserted. He was so nervous about this he wasn’t able to sit still. It might be a bit selfish of him but he wished all those things happened to someone else instead of him and Mikasa. And because of involving Armin in this shit, he was blaming himself even more than before.

The longer their ride was, the stronger wind was blowing. It started to be difficult for Elsa to drive, and Kenai evidently has slowed down though he was doing his best. Finally, the blowing wind made him running alongside the car.

“Kenai!” screamed Eren who opened the window for a while.

_“Ugh...! There's no use! The wind is too strong! I’m not able to run any longer!”_

“So what are we gonna do?”

_“Just drive straight ahead! No cut-offs or swerves! You’ll find yourselves on a huge forest glade in a min…!”_

The spirit haven’t finished because the wind has blown him away so strong he flew up and vanished. But what he said was enough for Eren to know where to go.

 

Meanwhile Lisa who was sitting in her ice chamber decided it was time to get to work. Time for a little bit of her precious magic. Mikasa was already safe now, so she closed her eyes and focused on her goal. After a while, she opened the eyes and rose up her hands, summoning all of her powers.

 _“Arise, Great Winter!”_ she ordered. _“Let the snow storm that has taken a place in the day of my coronation show the power of it and teach that man a lesson! He has no right to come into my castle! I commend you to  stop him!”_

What the Queen ordered, the snowflakes did. In one moment they increased the size of their army and flew away on the wings of air to meet Eren.

 

Along with the strength of wind, Elsa started to lose control of her car. She knew where to drive but she was afraid of how this is going to end if the vehicle will be still in use. She wanted to help Eren without unnecessary endangering their lives, so, as the oldest of them, she needed to make a decision right now.

“Anna, gear down.” she said.

“…What?”

“Do what I say. Gear down.”

“No! We’ll be late if I do this!”

“If we don’t, we can NEVER be on time!”

“But we are so close!”

“How do you know? Is there a map in your head, or something?”

“Elsa, no! We can’t stop now!”

“Look, this is MY car and when I’m telling you to stop, then…”

“…AAAAH!!! STOP!” screamed Anna in fear, pointing at left, what immediately made her sister brake the car. The other passengers were about to learn the reason of her fear as they only looked at the left side. They saw white clouds of snow appearing on the horizon. Though it looked unobtrusive in the distance, it quickly managed to approach and hit the car. Now, the wind was blowing so strong it froze up the underbody and wheels in the blink of an eye, preventing Elsa moving her car.

“Seriously?!” she bellowed.

Eren quickly realized what was happening, and he wasn’t going to sit and look at them freezing. On reflex, he opened the door that weren’t ice-covered yet, and exited the car, trying to resist the snow storm. He didn’t even pay attention on Armin, Elsa, and Anna who were telling him to stay before he could exit.

“Eren, can you hear me?!” yelled Armin, hitting the side window that ice slowly started to cover. “Get back here!...”

Meanwhile Elsa tried to take control over her car without success. The pedals weren’t working, and steering wheel was completely stuck, not to mention the heating that was turned off as well, and hoarfrost that managed to get into the car, taking the three of them as prisoners.  
“May the Lord have mercy on us all…” she groaned, hiding her face in her palms.

 

It got tougher for Eren to keep moving forward. The arm muscles became weaker, he couldn’t feel any pain on his face anymore, and his legs were refusing to further wade in snow. He himself had physically enough of this, but even if his teeth were clanging, he couldn’t give up. Not now. He hadn’t agreed for this journey to be stopped by the Snow Queen. There was nothing more annoying than thought he would lose this fight. He could even hear the voice of this woman in his head.

_“Fight! Stay strong, my soldiers! You must stop this stubborn kid! He cannot approach my castle!”_

The snow and strong wind were  befuddling all of his senses but his will to fight was still burning within his heart. It was so strong and hot it could even melt the deepest ice. Paying no attention on difficulties, Eren kept moving forward, embracing himself while having the snow almost above his knees.

“No…” he gasped out. “…I won’t let you… Have her…”

He tried to find enough strength to scream louder.

“I won’t let you have her, you hear me?!” he bellowed. “She doesn’t belong to you! She has always been, she is, and she will be the part of my family! She is **MY** sister and I won’t let anyone to take her away from me! I won’t give up, Snow Queen! No matter what!”

The louder he screamed, the more strength was leaving his body. Though he was still making another steps, he also started to slow down.

“I won’t give up…” he whispered. “…No matter… What…”

And in this moment, it also didn’t matter how huge was his will to fight. Eren’s body could no longer do anything. He wanted to make more and more steps forward but all this cold has weakened him so much that he kneeled down making himself fall face into the snow.

**_I’m sorry, Mikasa…  I’m too tired…_ **

Then he closed his eyes, scolding himself for having his resistance so weak. He couldn’t raise up, even if he wanted. But for him, the Queen haven’t won yet. All he had to do was to stay like this for a while…

But then the snow storm has ended. The wind stopped blowing, and the snow wasn’t falling anymore, though there was still incredibly cold. In that case, Eren tried to raise his head, and suddenly he realized he managed to be on time. He was in there. Finally, after all those troubles he has found himself in front of the Snow Queen’s palace. He didn’t exactly know why but he did. On reflex, he pulled himself together and tried to raise up. He would even crawl only to approach the front door, what he did in surprisingly short time. Then he convinced himself he had to stand. Luckily, the door-handles weren’t placed too high for him so he grabbed one of them and stood up on both of his legs. And finally, the moment of truth has come.

**_I wonder what I’ll see. Will it be the Snow Queen and thousands of her ice soldiers? Or some enormous monster made of snow? Or maybe it’s gonna be just like in that fairytale, and I’ll see Mikasa creating some ice figures?_ **

He had a lot of questions but he couldn’t have any answers until he enter the palace. Having mixed thoughts in his mind, he opened the door and suddenly he found himself in a spacious hall made of ice covered with hoarfrost. He saw a huge ice chandelier hanging on the ceiling. The doors on side walls were nothing else but arches that were connecting corridors with the hall, and there was a throne with stairs in the distance. Eren had to admit it was very impressive but then quickly came to his senses and started to look for Mikasa. He was calling her name more desperately with each passing moment, walking all around the hall what almost made him slip on the floor. He was going to keep calling her but then he heard somebody’s footsteps behind his back.

“Mom…?” someone said. “Is that you…? Can I finally come out…?”

He knew this voice so he immediately turned his back, and almost froze when saw his sister entering the hall. He knew it was her but something was wrong about her. She looked different than he remembered – her hair turned white, her complexion was completely pale, and she was wearing a gauzy dress that definitely wasn’t keeping her warm at all.

 ** _Oh, no… Am I late?,_** he thought, and immediately approached Mikasa who apparently did nothing about his presence.

“Mikasa…” he began as he came closer to her. “Okay… I know I was an asshole. Right now, I’m taking back all I’ve said or did to you. Please, let’s get outta here before the Snow Queen will find out…”

Mikasa was staring at him for some time until she frowned.

“…Who are you…?” she asked calmly.

Eren gulped but decided to not give up. He touched both of Mikasa’s arms and not paying attention on how cold they were, he shook her up.

“It’s me, Eren!” he cried. “I’m your stupid stepbrother who has yelled at you! I wished you never helped me anymore. I’ve been traveling here from California to fix it. So…”

“But I don’t know you. I’m not allowed to talk to strangers.” said Mikasa emotionlessly what made Eren feel like crying.

“Of course, you do! We’ve lived together since we were kids! We wanted to travel around the world with Armin, and discover new things… Remember the day you’ve lost your scarf and I’ve given you mine? You were so sad about it, and I didn’t want to look at it and…!”

“I’m sorry… I don’t remember…” Mikasa shook off her head. “…Now, let me go if I may please.”

But he didn’t want to. He wasn’t willing to let her go at all, not after what he has been through. But… What was the point if Mikasa didn’t remember him anyway? He wasted a lot of time in vain. So much of strength, so many sacrifices, and at last he had nothing. It couldn’t be truth he’d lost her forever. Though he was enduring it within him but now he felt an urge to cry so strong he didn’t even try to wipe the tears off as they finally fell down. Not being sure what he was doing, he hugged Mikasa.

“This is all my fault…” he sobbed. “I’m so sorry, Mikasa… Please… Please, come back to me… To us…”

But the girl didn’t know anything anymore. She had no clue who she was, why she existed, and why this person was touching her. It didn’t seem like he was about to let her go, and the Queen could be back at any time.

As Mikasa realized this, she wanted to release herself from his embrace but then something has stopped her. A strange feeling she’d never experienced before. Or maybe she had but forgot how does it feel? That was strange but also familiar. And nice. Very nice. So strong and pleasant she didn’t want the boy to let her go anymore. Alongside with growing up of this feeling, everything started to coming back into her mind. Her hair and skin have gained their old color, and she herself started to feel heat all over her body and heart. She also heard a familiar sobbing and smell that could be owned by the only one person.

“…Eren…” she whispered, shedding tears.

Hearing her voice, Eren moved back from his sister and looked into her eyes. These precious black eyes that were no longer cold and emotionless.

“Mikasa…?” he rasped.

The girl smiled at him.

“Eren… It’s really you…”

He also smiled instead of responding, and then he hugged her once more so tight he would never let her go, and she embraced him in return. All the sadness has left him. He felt only happiness, and relief that he finally could hug Mikasa again. Finally, everything was fine.

“But what are you doing here?” she asked when they moved back from each other.

“Did you think I would let the Queen turn you into some icicle?” he responded. “Look… What I’ve said back then… I never meant it… Well… I’ve just…”

“Eren…”

“I know, I’m going to be punched in the face but I just want you to know that I…”

He didn’t finish because of her covering his mouth with her palm and ordering him to look above them. The Queen’s palace started to crumble. However, it wasn’t like ice blocks were falling down so they could be killed by them. The walls were turning into small grains that were rising and vanishing. It was like all the snow that has fallen was withdrawing to the sky now. The chandelier has disappeared, and so did the corridors, and even the Queen’s throne has vanished into a thin air. The palace has sunk into oblivion, revealing a beautiful sunrise. Soon, there was nothing that would be related to the Snow Queen’s existence. Nothing… Excluding Mikasa’s dress and Mikasa herself who suddenly felt a strong urge to sneeze.

“Oh, my God, so cold in here…” she commented, embracing her arms.

Not being willing to hear her clanging teeth, Eren pulled a certain red fabric our of his pocket and gave it to his sister.

“You will wrap it by yourself, or should I do this for you?” he asked with smile.

She agreed for the second proposition, and in this case the boy wrapped a scarf around her neck. The girl touched the soft fabric gently and blushed. For the first time in a long time she felt warm and she was very happy about it.

She was about to say something when saw the one who conjured her up in the distance. Her smile disappeared what has been noticed by Eren who also looked at the Queen. He immediately shielded Mikasa as he only saw her.

“Don’t touch her!” he yelled. “She doesn’t belong to you!”

But the Queen didn’t look like she wanted to attack them. She was only standing somewhere nearby  and staring at them. She looked unhappy but even then the siblings wasn’t sure what they could expect from her. After a while, she put her hand up and disappeared. They had no idea how they were supposed to react to this but nothing bad was happening so they could definitely say they were finally safe.

“Did she give up?” Mikasa asked.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. I’m glad she’d finally left.” said Eren, and then he went to the road together with Mikasa, talking of how he was going to act from now and making rules for each other that they needed to follow so that story would never repeat itself.

As they approached the road, they have been greeted by two sisters and Armin who were happy they could finally exit the car. Anna seemed to be keen on  meet Eren as the first one of them, since she outran Elsa, and now was scurrying toward the boy as fast as she could.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Eren noticed. “Mikasa, this girl’s name is Anna, and there is her sister, Elsa. They’ve helped us with…”

He wasn’t able to finish because as soons as Anna approached them, she punched him in the face so hard he fell down on his butt. She didn’t even pay attention on Mikasa who was so confused about that she didn’t even know how she was supposed to react.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Eren bellowed, rubbing his sore cheek.

“Next time you’ll decide to exit the car when it’s colder than minus 22 degrees, then ask for permission at least!” Anna yelled. “We’ve been worrying about you, you know?”

Elsa had seen what her sister did, and she was going to apologize Eren and Mikasa for her behavior but both the boy and his sister decided he deserved it.

Nevertheless, the frost was extremely huge.

 

Armin’s mother has scolded Gerard and Henry hard for not being able to predict the ice-covering of her jet’s wings. Lucky for them, there was no power on Earth that could make throttling people through the phone possible but she threatened them with losing their job if only situation like this happens again. As she learnt where they have been, she immediately sent another jet that has landed in the Fort Yukon Airport where the pilots, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were waiting.

“Just don’t get into trouble this time, okay?” laughed Anna, poking the arm of Gerard who ruffled her hair in response.

“Well, what can I say…” started Elsa, standing in front of the three of friends. “Have a good flight.”

“And safe.” Anna added.

“And safe, that’s right. You’ll be always welcomed here, and I can assure you that we’ll let you know if something would happen to the Snow Queen.

“Thank you.”  Eren said. “Hey, you need to come and see us in California sometimes!”

“My house is very huge, just so you know. You won’t have to waste your money to get a hotel.” Armin added.

“Wow, I would love to!” the younger sister almost jumped of happiness. “Oh, my Gosh, I’ve never been in California! Come on, Elsa, let’s go together with them!”

“Okay, but who will we leave in charge of the hotel?”

“…Right. You’ve got a point.”

At the same moment, Henry has jumped out of the jet, giving them a signal it was time for them to fly away. In that case, Anna has kissed all of the trio’s cheeks, Elsa has waved to them, and then they all have rolled off the runway so that the jet could finally start. The sisters were far but it didn’t bother their friends to wave.

 ** _Finally, it’s over._** , Eren thought.

Yes, it was finally over. Now, he and Armin needed to tell Mikasa about their long journey to Alaska.

 

“Remember, not a dicky-bird.” ordered Eren, as they’ve approached their home. He was looking at it and it felt like forever since they have been here for the last time, even if it was only a few days ago. But right now, the most important thing was to surprise their mother pleasantly. He could bet she was biting her nails in concern about both of them. Being aware of this, the boy pressed the doorbell, and as their mother opened the door, they were so happy to see her. She embraced them tight, kissed them all over their faces, and laughed out loud, feeling relief they both were safe and sound.

“But hey, you’ve told you’ll call me…” Carla noticed.

“I forgot.” Eren replied. “Besides, I thought it was better to surprise you.”

“Oh, apropos of surprise – how about going to the beach when dad will be back?”

Eren and Mikasa has agreed, and drawn Armin into this later. Thanks to that, all the five went to the ocean and spent a lot of their precious time until the sunset. They’ve been walking, swimming, eating ice-cream, taking pictures, and had a great time as well. They deserved it after all those unpleasant things. Eren was euphoric, Mikasa was finally calm, and Armin was filled with pure happiness. That time was one of the most precious things of the trio’s lives. And no one, not even the Snow Queen, was able to change that.

 

At 10 o’clock in the evening, people started to finish their job and going back home as usual. Some of them were going to parties, and the other ones were watching movies in their houses.

Hanji was one of those who were finishing their workday so, after eight hours of dusting the antiques, and advising the customers, and earning some huge amounts, she could finally close the “Wonderland” shop, enjoying another good workday. She dropped the curtains, changed the “Open” sign to “Closed”, and she was finally about to put the key in the door when she realized someone was standing behind her.

“I’m sorry, we’re already closed.” she said. “If you have a business  – please, come tomorrow, or sleep in front of the shop tonight.”

“I didn’t find it.” said the mysterious man but Hanji only shrugged.

“Well, I feel sorry for you. Currently, I don’t have it.”

“Maybe you do but you overlooked it?”

The woman responded with fruity laugh.

“Look, this is my shop! I have an eye of the tiger and I know exactly what I sell. Why won’t you look for a customer I’ve sold it to?”

The nameless man gave a snort, as he only heard that.

“Last time I’ve checked he wasn’t at home. You lied to me.”

“I couldn’t predict he’ll go to Alaska the same day you came to me. But now I can definitely say he is in there because I saw him on the beach yesterday.”

The only thing Hanji has heard was a sound of steps implying that her interlocutor has walked to the place she told him about. The woman was so happy about it she laughed under her breath, and then she could finally close the shop. She walked away as if nothing had happened, counting all the things she managed to sell in her mind.

**_Yet another good day for a seller!_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we are finally at the end of this arc.
> 
> Next time - Levi finally appears! Is anybody as excited as I am? :D I only hope I won't make him OOC, heh...


	8. Charming and the Beast - Wizard in My House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I kept you waiting. I've been pretty busy lately... *sighs* Well. Now, I can only hope you like the chapter. Please, enjoy, if I can say so~

...Eren was lying on his bed, holding the Wish Stone in his right hand and studying it carefully. It’s been a month since he bought him, and he was still regretting this. Especially that he’d lost the count of how many wishes he made during the first week, and that last one has almost ruined his and his family’s lives forever. He remembered all the unpleasant things he’d experienced, and all the pain and cold the Snow Queen has inflicted on Mikasa and him.

It seemed like everything was fine now but that situation was still haunting him. If he could see the future he would never buy this piece of shit. He wouldn’t even look at it or touch it.

At last he decided it was time to do something instead of thinking. In that case, he rose up from his bed, and then threw the Stone at the wall with all his might. He expected it to be at least a bit damaged but it had no little scratch on. He tried to throw this on the floor. Nothing. Then he did it with ceiling. Still nothing. He tried to scratch it with his pocket-knife. Not only nothing but it also bounced off the wall and hit Eren in the forehead.

Almost giving up, he turned on his computer, and started searching for another methods of getting rid of the Stone. A few minutes later, Mikasa who was concerned about noises coming from his room arrived.

“Did you have a fight with some fly that you were so noisy? What are you doing?” she asked.

“I was thinking of what can I do to get rid of the Stone.” he replied.

The girl looked at the necklace, laying near him on the desk.

“How about throwing it away?”

“Nope. If I do this, somebody else would find it. I don’t want them to be through the same shit as we were. Destroying it is the only way. Maybe I should pour an acid on it, or something…?”

However, the concern for people’s sake wasn’t his only reason Eren wanted to get rid of the Stone in way other than just throwing it into some trash can. He had a strong feeling that he shouldn’t do this even when he was trying to destroy it. That he would make the biggest mistake in his life. But the power of the Stone was terrifying him so he both didn’t wanted to and had to do this so the whole story would never repeat.

“Besides, I’ve been trying to throw it away, and I was always coming back for it.” he added. “As if I was strongly attached to this thing, or something.”

Mikasa came closer to it and studied the Stone once more. That was unbelievable how such little things could be bad and do evil. She and her brother were both in need to get rid of it but it was also clear to her that the Stone was invulnerable. There had to be a way…

“I think you should just forget about it then.” she said at last.

He looked at his sister as if he was about to ask her if everything was alright with her.

“How?”

“If I remember correctly this thing grants any wish. Just wish to forget about it and then throw it through the window. We don’t have a dog, and our parents come out only on terrace so no one but you can find it in there. And you won’t know what is it, even if you take it.”

Eren had to admit that this idea was quite good. He only had concerns if he would be willing to get it back even if he wished to forget about it but soon he convinced himself that he won’t know until he takes a risk.

“Okay then… I’ll try.”

He took the Stone, then came to the open window, closed his eyes, and focused on a wish he wanted to make. Then he opened them, released air from his mouth, and stuck the Stone outside.

“You’ve brought a lot of troubles to us. Game over. I wish to not remember about you!”

After this, he threw the Stone away, and it rolled to the fence. But Eren was still standing in front of window, what slowly started to make Mikasa worried.

“And…?” she asked, moving closer to him, but he only gave her a surprised look.

“What ‘and’?”

“Did it work?”

“What was supposed to work?”

“And what did you just do?”

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but quickly shut it. He was sure he knew what he did but suddenly it flew out of his mind, and he wasn’t able to answer Mikasa her question.

“You… You know I have no idea?” he said at last. “I mean, I surely did something but I don’t know what… I can’t remember. I think I’ve lost my point.”

After a moment of silence, Mikasa gave him a little smile.

“I see…” she said quietly. “…So? How about making some caramel apples?”

She didn’t need to wait long for his answer because Eren offered that he will boil the coating. Being in good moods,  they went downstairs, and got to work. Quite good their parents were in house of their neighbors on the other side of the street because Carla wouldn’t give her children any chances for cooking. When she was at home, she wasn’t letting anyone to get into the kitchen beside her. After a small unfortunate accident her kids took part in, she was glaring at them at each time they were trying to hold a pot or turn on the gas cooker.

So Eren and Mikasa were happy they had a free hand. He took out the sugar from kitchen unit, and she was about to set the clock on stove when they both heard the doorbell.

“Could you look who’s there?” asked the boy while opening the package.

His sister nodded, and after another ring of bell she approached the door and opened. There was a short and skinny man standing in front of her. The face he was making didn’t look very friendly, so the girl decided to keep a distance from him. Especially that he didn’t seem as if he was going to greet her.

“…Good evening. How can I help you?” she asked, staring at him suspiciously.

“Is your brother home? I need to talk to him.” he replied, wanting to get into the house but Mikasa quickly pushed him away.

“Hold on. Who are you?”

“Levi. Can I finally get in?”

“I don’t know you, and I can’t let you in. I’m sorry…”

However, Eren got curious about this man’s voice so he exited the kitchen. He got some strange goose-bumps as he only saw him but then he decided to ignore it.

“Speaking of the devil… Hey, kid!”

The boy winced.

“Do you remember me?” Levi asked.

At first he couldn’t recognize him but then he remembered his last visit in “Wonderland” store, and the moment they’ve bumped into each other came into his mind.

“…Oh, right! It was you I… ‘Bombed’ then, if I can say so… I’m sorry again…”

Mikasa looked first at Eren, then at their guest, and even if she really didn’t want to do it, she finally let him in. The man didn’t say a word but moved closer to the boy.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t came here because of that.” he ensured him. “You’ve got something that belongs to me, and as long as I ask politely, I would love to regain it.”

Hearing this, Eren looked at him with disbelief.

“What is it, if I may ask?”

“You’ve bought it recently. A small gray stone with weird symbols on it. Remember?”

The lad shook off his head.

“And the shop assistant? You remember who has sold it to you?” Levi seemed to slowly losing his patience. “A weird woman with glasses. Don’t you recognize her, too?”

“Oh, it’s her! I’ve come to her store once or twice times but I’ve never bought anything from her. I swear.”

Suddenly the silence happened, and Eren was hoping he convinced the man that he was saying the truth. Soon he was going to learn he didn’t because Levi’s hand has grabbed the boy’s shirt tightly, and the guest himself has pulled him closer, glaring at the lad so he quickly had his heart in his throat and got angry at the same time.

“Are you fucking with me, brat?” he snarled.

Mikasa ran to Levi immediately, and yanked his free hand.

“What do you think you doing?!” she bellowed while trying to drag him away from Eren.

“I don’t know anything! Let me go!” the boy shouted.

“Bullshit! She told me herself that you’ve bought it on your birthday!” the man was so enraged he didn’t even think about releasing Eren’s shirt from his grasp, what only strengthened Mikasa’s belief that she shouldn’t let him in.

“Go away or I’m calling the cops!” she snarled, but Levi wasn’t going to listen.

“I won’t until this bastard tells me where is the Stone.”

“MAN, I HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT STONE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!” Eren confessed as sincerely as he could, staring straightly into his oppressor’s eyes. He, on the other hand, couldn’t believe him at first but then, minute by minute, he started to realize that this kid was saying the truth. In that case he released Eren’s shirt what made Mikasa doing the same with his arm.

“Go and look through my room if you still don’t believe it!” Eren pointed at the stairs.

“…Did you do what I think you did?”

“What?!” the lad gave him the most confused look he could do.

“Nevermind. Let’s check out then.”

After this, the unwanted guest went upstairs, leaving Eren who was in enormous shock, and Mikasa who was in anger. Soon, the boy thought it behooved him to give the stranger some help after all, so he ran after him and opened his room’s door.

“Ta-dah. Do the honours.” he offered sarcastically.

After this, he expected a thorough revision and his room turned upside down but to his surprise, nothing like that happened. Levi didn’t even enter the room, he just took some looks on everything that was inside, and then went towards the downstairs.

“You were right. I saw nothing there.” he said. “Goodbye.”

Finally, he left the Jeager’s house, not even looking at Mikasa who was glaring at him. The atmosphere kept on being tense for some time, until Eren decided to honor his sister with his presence.

“…How do you feel?” she asked, giving him a concerned look.

“A bit confused but it’s okay.” he scratched the top of his head.

**_But it doesn’t change a fact that this is not what I expected. That guy just came and already left. He hasn’t even taken a proper look. Is it even normal…?_ **

The girl only patted his shoulder and went towards the kitchen. However, Eren didn’t come after her. There was something in that man that interested the boy, so he paid all his attention on that unexpected visit, instead of accompanying his sister.

**_After what we’ve been through with the Snow Queen, I would say he was some kind of medium or something but… I don’t know. Something is wrong here._ **

His contemplation has been interrupted by the voice of Mikasa who was clearly worried about the fact her brother was still standing in front of the door.

“…Are you sure you’re okay?”

 The lad was staring at her for a while, thinking what he should say, and then he smiled to calm her down. Next he nodded, and went to the kitchen to finally make their beloved caramel apples.

 

Sunday in Jaeger’s home was always the day of sweet laziness. The family members didn’t have to go to school or work ‘til the next day, so they were blessing their precious free time. Grisha was sitting on sofa, and watching TV. Carla was sitting next to him, and reading some magazine. Mikasa was lying on her bed, and talking on the phone with Sasha, while Eren was in his room, and playing some online shooting game. He was doing well. He even managed to reach the final level, and now he was about to finish the game when his mom came into his room. Because of this, he lost his concentration and haven’t finished the level, and he let his mother know about his disappointment by loud groan.

“Am I interrupting something?” she asked innocently.

The boy released the air from his mouth.

“No…” he lied, and his ears became slightly red but Carla pretended she haven't seen this.

“Could you mow the lawn, please?”

Eren stared at his computer’s screen, still being sad about the game but seeing he had no choice, he sighed heavily.

“Okay…”

“I love you, dear!” she smiled at him and left. Meanwhile, her son rose up from seat unwillingly and went downstairs, so he found himself on backyard soon.

Though he has agreed, he was still not happy. He has spent some time playing that game, and now he had to back to the beginning. But he couldn’t say this to his mom, so now he was walking around the yard, having the mower on and watching carefully if he did it properly. A few minutes later, half of the lawn was reminding of a soft carpet, perfect for walking barefoot on it, but Eren didn’t seem to care about it. He was obviously proud of his job but that game and unfinished level were still haunting his thoughts.

Then he started to mow the second half of yard. And he was so deeply focused on thinking that he almost got a heart-attack when the mower’s drum stopped working, and the mower itself sounded like it was about to explode. Fortunately, the boy turned it off on time, so he could see what was the reason of that weird situation. Something has been tangled between blades. It was some gold chain connected to a small stone in gold frame. He had no idea what it was, and from where did it come but he liked it, even if it almost killed him. He wasn’t a type who would wear tons of jewelry all the time but he felt like he and this little thing had a lot in common. Now, he only needed to pull it out, lucky for him being experienced in this. Putting it on his neck, he had a feeling he saw this thing before but quickly turned this thought down.

**_It must be a de ja vu, or something…_ **

Finally, he needed to go back to the mowing… But suddenly he’d lost his motivation for doing it. Though it was only a half of the lawn, Eren was so unwilling to get up from his knees he surprised himself.

“Oh, man… I wish that grass was already mowed.” he said under his breath.

Unfortunately, it seemed that he had to do this on his own so he rose up, though he really didn’t want to but when he was about to turn on the mower again, he noticed something strange. That half of un-mowed lawn suddenly became more tidied than while ago. Even the park grass wasn’t mowed that short. After the incident with the Snow Queen, he would say he saw everything but right now he had to admit THAT was unexpected.

Who knows? Maybe that was some strange magic? He couldn’t make himself think otherwise. The boy didn’t even suspect the little stone on his neck of this. Feeling relieved that he didn’t have to mow the lawn anymore, he put the mower in garage, and went back home as if nothing happened.

However, before he could go upstairs, Mikasa left her room.

“Hey, Eren, do you have a…” her blood froze when she looked at him what made him raise his right eyebrow.

“What?” he asked. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

The girl blinked and shook her head. She almost had said something she would definitely regret.

“…I’m okay. I think I’m just seeing things.” she said. “Do you have a pen? Mine is out of ink.”

“I think I do.”

The boy went to his bedroom, meanwhile his sister was trying to make all those unpleasant thoughts that came into her mind go away. She needed to calm down and realize that Eren didn’t know what he was wearing, so nothing bad was happening. Well, as least she was hoping for it.

**_False alarm. Nothing will happen… But what if?_ **

That was right. After all, Eren could make some wish at any time without even being aware of this. What if he would unwillingly wish somebody to be hurt? What if the whole story will back to the very beginning now?

**_Or maybe I’m just overthinking…?_ **

Everything was possible but it didn’t mean it had to be bad. It was needed to think positive. She took a deep breath and waited for Eren so he could give her the pen.

**_Calm down. Everything will be alright._ **

Eren gave Mikasa the pen, she thanked politely, and they went to their rooms. The boy seemed to be calm on the outside but in reality he was still thinking about that weird phenomenon on the yard. He was pretty sure that wasn’t just a coincidence. There had to be a reason the lawn has mowed itself.

**_What, maybe the elves has come? Or that guy from yesterday has heard me and casted a spell on my yard?_ **

He laughed under his breath as he only thought about it.

“Yeah, right… Unless…?”

The whole situation was both strange and amusing to him but the longer he was thinking about this man, the more awkward was feeling within his heart that in fact this Levi guy and that mowed lawn had something in common.

 ** _…Unless he came here because of you?,_** he thought, taking the stone to his hand and studying it carefully. It was small, and gray, and it had some weird symbols on. Just like their yesterday’s guest has depicted it. He was definitely still looking for it, so he could pay an unwanted visit to his home again. Eren couldn’t let this happen. He immediately had to give it back to him.

**_Yeah… But where can I find him? I only know his name._ **

Then he remembered the situation from before his journey to Alaska. He knew what he needed to do but he didn’t know how. The history seemed to repeat itself, even if this time it looked different. He was lasting like this until he came up with idea that could work.

Why not to ask Hanji? After all, she told him to ask in case he needed something, and besides he had to start somewhere. Without any longer contemplations, he ran out of his house and went towards ‘Wonderland’ store.

 

“I failed.” said Levi with disappointment in his voice, leaning on the counter.

“You failed in gaining the Stone or going to his house?” Hanji asked, and had a sip of black tea.

“I have found the way to his house. But he said that he didn’t have it, and I didn’t believe him. Then I looked through his room, and in fact it happened to be gone.” he responded, releasing the air from his mouth. He was disappointed in his actions, though he did what he could to find the Stone. There was no trace of it anywhere in each of the continents. Europe, Asia, Australia, even such forgotten place like Antarctica. He has been looking for it all over the globe, and all he did was in vain.

“Aw, don’t you worry.” the shop assistant grinned to cheer him up. “I’m sure you will find it one day.”

“Tch! You are not the one who has lost it.” he snarled and sighed heavily trying to calm down. “…Well. Thanks, anyway.”

The woman laughed in response.

“You’re welcome! I will be happy to help you again in the future!”

“I get it. Hang in there.”

He turned to the front door, going to leave this place but before he could make a step forward, he saw the person he has charged with hiding the Stone from him yesterday. First, he looked at the necklace, and then at Eren who looked surprised instead of being happy he didn’t have to look for Levi.

“Well, well, so he had it all this time! You just didn’t look for it properly.” Hanji commented.

“Shut up.” Levi scolded her, then he looked to Eren. “Hey, kid. I thought you didn’t have it.”

The lad looked first at the Stone, and then at Levi again.

“…A-And I didn’t!” he confessed. “I’ve found it on my yard today. It was stuck in the mower so I pulled it out, and then I remembered what you said yesterday…”

“Oh, yeah?” the man raised his eyebrow.

“It’s true! I thought this belongs to you, sir, so I wanted to give it back to you.”

Levi’s face softened as he only heard that.

“Oh? That changes everything.” saying this, he moved his hand towards Eren.

However, the boy was staring at his palm as if he was afraid of something, instead of putting off the necklace. Of course, he has been going to give back the Stone to the rightful owner before but now he just lost his zeal for this. Or rather he **didn’t want** to do this anymore. He didn’t want to return the Stone, though he was struggling this feeling within. But he couldn’t help hearing the little voice inside his head that was telling him to not get rid of his find.

Meanwhile, Levi started to lose his patience.

“…May I?”

Hearing this, Eren grabbed the Stone, making a step back.

“…No?”

The man frowned.

“I thought you were going to give it back to me, weren’t you?”

“I changed my mind.”

The rightful owner of the Stone started to have doubts. This kid was either genuinely lying and greedy, or something really bad was behind his behavior. In that case, he asked again, making the step forward.

“…Please, give it back to me.”

“I can’t do this.”

“Give it to me for a second!”

“No!”

Seeing this wasn’t going to work, Levi considered the whole situation as critical and requiring taking specific actions. He took a deep breath, and then a yellow light appeared in his palm and flew towards the Stone.

“Just for a second!”

The light reached Eren’s necklace, and thanks to this, it started floating in the air, slowly leaving the boy’s neck. Right now, Levi was definitely sure that was going to work but then a lighting got out of the Stone and immediately went towards the wizard. It’s light was so intense the lad needed to close his eyes and cover his face, and he didn’t dare to put down his shoulders until he heard a sound body makes after collapsing on the floor.

“What the…”

As soon as he realized the danger has passed, he forced himself to open his eyes to see a piece of Hanji’s head, hiding behind the counter, and Levi who was lying on the floor and giving no signs of life.

“…Oh, my God! Are you alive?!” shouted the boy with fear in his voice, running towards the victim. However, he didn’t touch him because Levi raised his palm and thereby stopped Eren from moving closer to him. Then he tried to stand up despite the fact he was trembling.

“Fuck… It’s worse than I thought.” he said in breathy voice, staring at Eren and his glowing Stone. “…This thing has been **cursed**.”

Hearing the word ‘cursed’, the boy immediately had his heart in his throat. In practice, he would consider this as some kind of a joke but now he wasn’t amused at all. Not after what he just saw.

“…Cursed…?” he repeated after Levi whose Hanji helped to stand.

“Seems like it…” said the wizard. “…There is no beating around the bush. Somebody has casted a spell on this shit.”

“A very powerful spell.” the shop assistant added.

“W-Wait! What curse?!” screamed Eren who was so confused and scared right now he was almost about to go crazy. “Shouldn’t I be attacked with a lightning like he was? Why don’t I feel anything? And what the hell is going on here?!”

“Shut up, I am trying to figure it out, too.” snarled Levi, rubbing his temple.

“Fear not, my boy!” said Hanji with smile. “Levi will sure come up with some idea! And by the way, I heard that every curse can be broken, and he is familiar with such things. Right, Levi?”

He looked at her with reproach, internally begging her to be quiet and let him think, and then sighed heavily.

“I cannot promise you anything but I will try. The only problem is the fact I am not able to touch this thing in any way…” saying this, he pointed at Eren. “…And him.”

The boy only gulped. He didn’t even try to deny this accusation, even if he unwillingly got in the man’s way.

“So, the solution is simple. We need to cut off your head~!”

Hearing Hanji’s proposition, Eren immediately embraced his precious neck with both of his hands, trying to convince himself that the woman was only joking.

“If I weren’t human, that would be an option. But I am, so we will do this in other way.” the wizard moved closer to Eren who was still very tense. “Tell me – are you aware of what are you wearing?”

The boy opened his mouth, going to say something but then quickly realized that someone like him, a guy throwing the light from his palms wouldn’t look for an ordinary necklace, so he shook off his head what meant ‘no’. In that case, his interlocutor sighed.

“So, in a nutshell, you’re now in possession of the Wish Stone.” he explained. “For some reason, you’ve forgotten about it what is unacceptable since we’re going to get rid of it.”

“But why…? And what ‘we’?!”

“I haven’t finished yet. I’m saying that I have a duty to destroy it. It looks normal but it’s an object of common desire, and all those people don’t care this thing is dangerous.”

 ** _Dangerous?,_** thought Eren, thinking of sense of Levi’s words. **_How can this little guy be dangerous?_**

Meanwhile, the man kept talking.

“It has done a lot of harm to me as well as to people around me. And it’s all because of the fact it grants wishes. Wish for anything you want, and it happens.”

**_So this is why that lawn has mowed itself!_ **

“It has been lost many years ago, and meanwhile some people has heard about it, so I wanted to get it first. The end.”

Eren nodded slowly.

“So, to cut a long story short, you need to kill me because I don’t want to give it back?” he summed it up, gulping nervously.

“No killing. That was just a moment of weakness.” said Hanji calmly.

“You will need to give it back to me anyway because the spells I am going to cast are harmful. Unless you have enough of your life.”

Suddenly, Eren came up with a certain idea.

“Hey, could you tell me where do you live?”

Levi raised his eyebrow, hesitating to respond.

“… Why?”

“…Maybe I could move in to your place for some time?”

Levi was astonished.

“What the fuck? No way.”

“I’m going to give your precious stone back to you, if you will allow me to keep an eye on it all the time. After all, it seems like you can't touch it anyway.” Eren grinned slyly.

The wizard didn’t know how to react. The only thing that was stopping him from killing Eren right now was he didn’t want a kid who unwillingly got into really hot water on his conscience. 

“Deal?” asked Eren, moving his hand towards Levi.

Damn, that was hard. Should he lose the Stone again? Or gain it but also become a babysitter? He had to make the decision immediately. Finally, he gave up and rubbed his temple.

“…I can’t believe a brat like you dares to make conditions on me.” he sighed, and then gave Eren his hand and shook it.

“Deal.”


	9. Charming and the Beast - The Girl Portrait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Expect more Levi & Eren moments and another Disney character's introdution in this chapter :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long D: Lately I've been busy with completely different stuff. I can only hope I translated this chapter properly. If I didn't, please, let me know. And now, enjoy~

...It was hard for Eren to convince his family (especially Mikasa) that he needed to move in with some friend they never heard about. They’ve been reproaching him for leaving home though he just came back from the journey but at last his parents allowed him to go, even if his ears were extremely flushed. Carla wanted to ask her stepdaughter about this situation but then the lad told the girl what was really happening, so she lied to her mom, too. In this way, the boy could pack up at ease and go to the house of Levi that he was walking with right now.

They weren’t talking much, so the boy was feeling a bit awkward. Of course, he didn’t expect the man to tell stories from his life but the way he felt wasn’t nice at all, so he coughed few times to pay his attention.

“Did you just eat some fly or something?” Levi commented, and Eren hit himself in the chest in response.

“I’m fine…” he assured. “… So, you’re a wizard, huh?”

“Yes but don’t say it out loud.”

“There is only two of us anyway… Okay, but are you more like Harry Potter or Merlin? Or also a stage wizard?”

“Yeah, I can pull a rabbit out of a hat, fly on broomstick, and fight monsters with light coming out from my palms.” Levi answered sarcastically. “Don’t drive me mad. I believe you saw what I’m capable of.”

“Well… I just wanted to talk…”

“Well, I’m sorry if I disappointed you.”

After this, the boy thought it was better to stop opening his mouth. Not all people were willing to talk about themselves, after all. But he couldn’t help he was getting incredibly curious about Levi’s being despite their very first meeting.

**_I wonder how big is his house. Maybe he casted a spell on it so this place looks like a shed outside but it’s a palace inside? Are there any talking pictures or something like this? Maybe he has a broom that cleans the floor by itself? Or maybe…?_ **

“Hey…”

Levi’s voice made the boy wince and brought him back to reality.

“I can read your mind, you know?”

Hearing his words, Eren looked at Levi with shock in his eyes. In this moment, he was totally confused about what he could do without taking risk of making Levi angry or being overheard. That was impossible, and the boy felt embarrassed. He was about to open his mouth when the man gave him a short laughter.

“Just kidding.” he said. “I would have to touch you and focus.”

The lad was staring at him for a while, then he breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the wizard was one of those people who express their emotions in different way than the others. Plus, he had a strange sense of humor, so the boy needed to get used to this if he wanted to live with him. In fact, he was willing to learn anything about his new acquaintance but that didn’t change the fact he was imagining the whole situation way different.

Levi didn’t seem like willing to read Eren’s mind but the boy was keeping his hands to himself anyway.  They were going through the town like this until they found a forest path that led them to the man’s house. They kept following it, passing by another trees and bushes until the wizard stopped.

“Wait... Stay here for a second.” he ordered.

Then he put his hands on something and closed his eyes just to open them again few seconds later. Though the lad was watching him very carefully, he couldn’t tell what exactly Levi just did.

“Come in.” he said.

Eren looked at him interrogatively but the man only pointed with his thumb at the path, expecting the boy to finally move. In that case, he swallowed his saliva and moved forward tentatively to see an enormous building that suddenly grew out of nowhere in front of him. He had to admit that this mansion impressed him. It looked almost like some kind of modern castle with all those dark-brow perpendicular roofs, small windows, and white walls. It had also a well-groomed garden, full of herbal flower beds and old trees, that was intensifying the grandeur of Levi’s house.

“Holy shit...” Eren commented. “And you live like this under the dome?”

“I highly value my privacy.” said Levi, closing a hole in the dome. “This place is like Hogwart, if I can say so. Nobody can see it unless I let them.”

“I see. Pretty smart...”

They went towards wooden double doors where the wizard ordered his guest to wipe his shoes and take them off after entering. Next, they began to look over the magical mansion. Few minutes later, Eren could tell where the kitchen was, and the living room, and the library, and the basement, and also two huge bathrooms that were right in front of bedrooms. In the end, Levi led Eren to one of them where the boy was supposed to sleep for these next few days. The lad was wondering if it has always been there or rather created for him. However, he didn’t manage to think about it any longer because the wizard asked him to pay attention as soon as they went inside the room.

“Alright, listen up.” he started. “Now you know how everything works at my place, so it’s time to tell you some rules you must follow.”

Hearing this, the boy was immediately all ears.

“First – I’m doing my best to keep this house perfectly clean and absolutely quiet so: you’re dirty and noisy – you’re out and never coming back.”

Eren nodded.

“Second – Don’t touch anything that looks at least a bit valuable, or magical, or important, or dangerous.”

The lad nodded again.

“Third and the most important – you can walk all over the house but you mustn’t go to the basement. If you want something, just knock. Unless I’ll clearly tell you to not disturb me. If I do, you’re allowed to go there only if you really have to. Is that clear?”

“Yessir!” said Eren, giving him a salute what made Levi smirk.

“Good.” he said and went towards the door. “ **Don’t disturb me** then.”

After this, he went outside Eren’s room and ran to the basement to prepare everything that was needed to disenchant the Stone from it’s curse.

Meanwhile, his guest was so confused he raised up his finger and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but quickly shut it and realized that any suitable words to comment this situations were simply not occurring to him. Well, after all he was a stranger here, so he needed to adapt to requirements of master of this house.

He released air from his mouth and sat on a bed, studying the interior of his temporary bedroom. It was bigger than room in his house but also more sterile, so the boy was feeling a bit awkward. Not that he didn’t like tidiness but the only things here were bed, an old wardrobe, a small Persian carpet and... A portrait painting of a beautiful girl.

**_Hm? I haven’t noticed her before._ **

He came closer being all intrigued. The painting was reminding him of those he used to learn about on Art History classes. A brown-haired girl dressed in a gold ball gown was sitting on a baroque armchair, and looking straight ahead. The portrait has been done very precisely but what really paid Eren's attention was neither the details in this lady’s dress nor brushstrokes but her eyes. So shiny and hazel, and appearing to watch him carefully... Almost like he was looking at the real human being...

_“...Oh, Salut !”_

Suddenly, the boy jumped away from the painting, then rubbed his eyes with disbelief and cleared his ears, hoping he just misheard. To his surprise, it wasn’t a dream at all – she was looking and smiling at him for real.

 _“I have never seen you in here! What is your name?”_ she asked.

Eren gulped and decided to open his mouth.

“I... I’m Eren...” he bowed slowly, still being shocked. “...And you...?”

_“Belle, it is nice to meet you. I would bow if I could...”_

The boy smiled implausibly what made Belle a little concerned.

_“Is something wrong? You’re not feeling well?”_

“I-I am, but...” he said, scratching the back of his head. “...I’m really sorry, just... Don’t get me wrong but I don’t talk to speaking paintings very often...”

The girl giggled.

_“This is alright. I am being like this only after the sunrise.”_

Hearing this, Eren frowned.

“Wait, what do you mean by this...?”

Belle was about to give him an answer but then the door opened and Levi came in.

“Okay, kid. I’ve prepared everything. Now, you only have to...” the man cut himself off when he saw what was happening. “...Oh? I see you’ve already met Belle.”

“Yeah, we’ve been having a talk...”

_“Bonjour, monsieur Rivaille!”_

“ _Bonjour_... Now, come on. We don’t have all day.”

Then the wizard and his guest left Belle alone. As they were going to basement, Eren was thinking about what his new friend meant by ‘sunrise’, yet he wasn’t completely sure about this. He had a feeling it wasn’t a good thing, so he decided to not put any pressure on her.

“She seems to be nice...” he commented.

“That’s why I thought you may need someone to talk to while I’ll be working. We talk a lot but I’m not around  this place all day long, so we get the occasion only by night. Lately she’s been complaining that she’s bored, and even the books can’t help her ‘cause she knows it all by heart.”

As soon as he learned all these information, Eren decided to not speak until he get closer to the Stone. Soon, they approached the door that led them to the basement. After they went downstairs, the boy looked at this all, being wide-eyed. Since it was the lowest floor in the house, he expected this place to be totally messed up, like spider-webs in every corner, or some dust on the ground and a dirty kettle but everything was perfectly clean and right as rain. Potion bottles were on shelfs, from the tiniest to the biggest, and sorted by colors. Old books has been freed from dust, and placed on book-cases. There was a big kettle in the middle of room, and liquid inside of it was glowing like a blue neon. Next to the kettle, Eren saw a marble pedestal. Then he studied the floor, and the walls, and the ceiling, where some magical symbols has been drawn on with white paint. All these things were both scary and interesting to him. After all, he’d never thought he’d come to visit the real wizard’s room.

“Did you gaze your fill yet?” asked Levi, bringing the boy back to reality. “If you did, then place the Stone next to the kettle.”

Saying this, he pointed at the pedestal, and Eren looked at him as if he just said something in some  foreign language.

“Don’t make that stupid face again. Try to convince yourself that if you won’t do this, I’m going to look for another methods.”

The lad gulped and moved closer to the pedestal, squeezing the Stone in his right palm. He was releasing the air from his mouth from time to time, hesitating to place his precious necklace in there. He wasn’t sure if he should do this but his common sense was slowly taking over control of his heart.

**_Focus, Eren... If you won’t get rid of this thing, this guy is gonna slay me alive. Oh, but it’s so beautiful... Oh, for God’s sake! Inhale-exhale. No stupid necklace won’t tell me what to do! Alright, you can do this. So... On three... One... Two..._ **

He counted to three, then took off the Stone placing it next to the kettle, and quickly ran away from it. He held his breath fearing fireworks, or a lightning bolt like the one he saw in the afternoon but nothing like that happened. The artifact was lying on the pedestal and everything was alright with it, what made Eren smile.

“Hey...” he said to Levi. “I did it...”

However, the wizard was unflustered, and even if he was happy about the boy being able to take off his necklace, he still felt something was up. Soon, he realized that his concerns were real when he saw an alarming yellow twinkle in his guest’s eyes.

**_Shit!_ **

Suddenly, Eren immediately went toward the Stone but before he could reach it, Levi embraced him with his power and quickly carried away from the basement. However, it was hard to close the door because the lad was so enraged he was struggling with doors trying to break it down. Destroy it. Do anything to get closer to his precious Stone.

“Open up! Open this door, NOW!” yelled Eren, hitting the door with his fists. “Give back that Stone or I’ll make you regret this! I swear! As soon as you’ll get out from that fucking basement, I’m gonna...!”

Hearing this, Levi opened the door violently  and grabbed Eren’s hood, pulling him along without paying attention on his guest who was trying to set himself free, until they entered the boy’s temporary bedroom. After this, Eren has been pushed on bed and then he turned himself back to master of the house with anger written all over his face.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” he bellowed.

Levi wasn’t going to answer. He was boiling mad inside because of the curse that was tying Eren in the Stone but he couldn’t allow himself to show too much emotions so he only glared at the boy, while breathing heavily.

“… If I tell you to not disturb me, you simply **DON’T DO THIS**.” he squeezed out in a rough voice. “...Is that fucking clear?”

Then he went out, closing the room so Eren wasn’t able to get out of there neither by door, nor by the window. But the boy wasn’t going to give up. As soon as the wizard’s footsteps died down, he rose up from the bed and ran toward the door. However, he couldn’t do anything about them being closed, though he was kicking them with all his strength.

 _“What is happening, monsieur Eren_?” asked Belle, being clearly concerned about his behavior.

“That fucking bastard...” he said under his breath. “...He took away my Stone...”

_“Excuse me...?”_

The boy stepped away from the door without hesitation, and then he tried to break them down.

_“Monsieur Eren!”_

He bounced off them and fell down on the floor but quickly pick himself up and tried once more.

_“Stop it! You may hurt yourself!”_

He fell down again, stood up and did the same once more time. And again. And again. Without paying attention on Belle who was begging him to stop, he was attacking the door until he was lack of  breath. After falling on bed he tried to calm down. He was angry with Levi who dared to take the necklace away from him but also with himself because he failed to get away from his room, even if he was trying to with all his might. As he was finally able to breath at ease, he focused his thoughts on one specific thing.

**_C’mon! There has to be another way. Think, Eren. Think! He can’t make me stay in here forever, can he?_ **

Then he has been shaken out of his thoughts by birdsong, and his shadow on the wall gave him a certain idea. He turned his sight to the window, then ran closer and opened it but when he tried to stuck his hand out he felt a strange energy that went from tips of his fingers through the nerves in his arm to the very end of his brain. The energy coming from the window happened to be so strong it threw Eren away what made him hit the hard wall with back of his head.

_“Monsieur Eren!”_

And Belle’s voice was the last thing he heard before he completely lost consciousness.

 

A soft mattress. His numb limbs. Dry in his mouth. Annoying feeling of hideous heat and severe headache. The last thing forced Eren to slowly open his eyes. At first, his view as blurred but it became clearer over time. To bring it’s sharpness back, he rubbed corners of his eyes, and then he saw a familiar beauty who was sitting next to the bed.

“...Is everything alright? How do you feel?” she asked.

“Belle...?” he said quietly. “Oh, geez... What happened...?”

“You don’t remember?”

The boy looked at the ceiling, trying to recall any scene from his memory but it all was misty for first few seconds. Nevertheless, he was patient and thanks to this all the things that happened before he went unconscious started to be more visible. The light, the shadow, the song of birds, and strong willing to go outside.

“...I remember... I wanted to jump out the window, and then...” he cut off himself for a while. “...My vision got completely black... Hey, do you have some water?”

The girl took a glass of water that was on locker, while Eren rose up from the bed, and he was about to touch the dish when his right hand has been stopped by something. An extremely strong thing. And assuming from the sound of chains that thing was made of iron.

“What the...” he murmured as he looked at some thick handcuff embracing his wrist that was connected to wall by like about twenty links.

“Oh, dear... I forgot to tell you.”

But Eren wasn’t listening to her. Instead of this, he was still looking at the handcuff, being both shocked and slightly angered.

“Tell me what? About this?” he pointed at his wrist. “Let me guess. That’s another protection so that I can’t get closer to the Stone?”

“More that you can’t do yourself a bigger harm.” answered a familiar voice, and they both saw Levi that came into the room, bringing a steaming plate of food. “But if this is how you see this, then you’re fully allowed to think what you want.”

“Mind to let me go?” Eren rose up his handcuffed wrist, looking at Levi placing the dish on the bedside cabinet.

“So you would break your legs? No way. If your behavior is **that** dangerous, then suffer.”

“I just want to regain my property! What’s dangerous about that?”

“First: the Stone is not yours. Second: I’m still working at it. And third: I thought I explained the rules to you. Why did you break them is above me.”

The boy only sighed with dissatisfaction what didn’t make the wizard impressed in any way. Belle only looked at them both, then she put the glass on the bedside cabinet and yanked Levi’s arm leading them outside the room. As the door has been closed, she stared at the man reproachfully what made him frown.

“What?” he asked.

“Don’t you think you overdid it a bit?”

“He’s the one who overdid here. After all, you told me he nearly killed himself, didn’t you?”

“But you didn’t have to handcuff him! Think about it for a minute. Is he your prisoner or a guest?”

Levi didn’t say anything. He was only breathing heavily, staring into the girl’s eyes.

“Look, I have an idea...” Belle whispered and suddenly started to speak in French, just in case. _“If you are so worried about him, then just leave him to me.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“I mean: you’ll let him go and go back to your work while I’ll keep him busy. We will talk, we will laugh until I’ll be able to, and thanks to this there will be a lot of peace and quiet ‘til the morning.”_

_“What if you won’t make it?”_

_“...You’ll just have to trust me.”_

After this she smiled at Levi, praying that she convinced him. He, on the other hand, was in two minds. One was telling him to be stubborn and defend his believe that Eren had to be chained so he wouldn’t be able to hurt himself anymore. And, goddammit, this brat was a GROWN ASS BOY. The man didn’t want neither to be responsible for him nor telling his family that their beloved son and brother accidentally broke his neck. However, his heart was telling him to listen to Belle. He was obviously worried about what could happen but he has known her for a long time enough to trust in her skills. After this, the only thing he had to do was just to sigh heavily.

“...Alright but don’t come crying if something goes wrong.”

Belle made a big grin.

“Don’t you worry. It’s in the bag.” she giggled, and then Levi touched the door that suddenly started to glow together with the wall. Erasing the protective barrier took more time than creating it but soon it completely disappeared, just like the handcuff that was connecting Eren with the wall. In the end, the wizard walked away going to the basement so he could work at ease.

Meanwhile, Belle went back to the room and found Eren who moved closer to bedside cabinet and started eating his dinner.

“Now, tell me – what did you do to change his mind?” he asked as he only swallowed the piece of steak.

“Nothing special.” she said and sat on a stool next to the bed. “He is very similar to a person I used to live with, so I know exactly what to do.”

The lad looked at her with admiration and smiled, and then he took another bite of his food. As he was eating, Belle was thinking about how to start the subject without raising a matter of that Stone the boy wanted so much to possess until she hit upon an idea.

“Wouldn’t you want to talk as you end eating?” she asked.

He looked at her interrogatively while filling his stomach with dinner, and suddenly he remembered of what Levi was telling him about Belle what made him shrug.

“Actually, why not...? But only after I go look for the Stone, okay?”

 

The plate was empty. The light of a big ceiling lamp was gleaming all the time. There was late in the night but Eren and Belle were still talking and laughing as Eren has taken the last bite of dinner. They were exchanging information about themselves as well and discussing about what happened in their lives. The boy had to admit it’s been a while since he last had a talk so nice. And so Belle - talking to someone who preferred to be around people, not grimoires and potion bottles, was kind of refreshing. They both were treating this situation as a nice experience and having a lot of fun, even if Eren was giving her a report of his last journey that wasn’t nice itself though the ending was happy.

“...Glad you survived.” said the girl as she heard of airplane crash.

“No to mention that we would change into icicles if we wouldn’t  jump out in time.” summed the lad, scratching his head. “And that’s how we got in Fort Yukon village.”

“What is like in here?”

“...Well, it’s a historical place but it doesn’t seem to be outstanding that much. The most important part are the villagers. They were very friendly, and we even met two girls who has let us sleep in their hotel.”

“Aw, that’s very nice...”

Eren snorted with laughter.

“Yeah, but you know... I live in California where you can’t see such things like the northern lights. That was the best in my opinion.”

Hearing this, Belle’s eyes brightened.

“The northern lights? For real?”

“Yep.”

“And how is it like?”

“Uh... Have you ever seen a rainbow?”

She gave him an amazed look.

“Of course. Why?”

“Because the lights are way better than this. I swear, you’d need to go there to describe it by yourself.”

After this, they both became silent for a while.

“...The Snow Queen might tried to kill us...” Eren started. “...But still it was fun to get away from it all for a moment.”

“I completely understand. I would like to travel, too.”

“Well, this vacation my family is going to Dubai. We can take you with us if you want.”

“Oh, that would be great but...” suddenly the smile disappeared from Belle’s face what made Eren kind of concerned.

“But what?” he asked, almost figuring out what she meant.

The girl gulped, staring at her lap with blank expression.

“...Travelling without this frame would be hard to me.” saying this, she turned her head to the empty painting. So did the lad, and this time he was sure about what was happening to Belle.

Then the girl saw brightening slowly behind the window, what was a signal to her to end their talk. In that case, she stood up from the chair, then smiled warmly at the boy and bowed. He nodded shyly and watched Belle making another steps to the painting. As soon as she stopped, she moved her hand closer to the frame and, though she was hesitating, at last touched it. Next she closed her eyes and suddenly she has been surrounded by white light that completely covered all of her body. It was hard to Eren to see her because of the gleam that was glowing stronger with each passing second, and before he realized the dawn has come and Belle was back in the frame.

The boy felt terrible, looking at her calm smiling face. That was very unfair to his new friend – all day, only smile and making no big moves from dawn to twilight. He could only imagine how she was feeling, especially that he knew her dreams she was unable to fulfill in her current condition. In all this, that was definitely the worst.

“Sorry to ask but...” he started, coming closer to the painting. “...How do you feel about that?”

_“Well... I don’t really know. I’m just used to it. At least I’m able to sleep.”_

“I’m very sorry...” he said, looking down with sad expression.

 _“Why, you don’t have to be sorry. Besides, I used to be in much worse troubles.”_ said Belle proudly what made Eren look back at her smiled image. Next he nodded and suddenly felt a strong willing to yawn what he luckily managed to avoid by covering his mouth with his palm.

 _“Good idea... I’m going to...”_ the girl cut herself off by yawning. _“...Take a nap, too...”_

Then she fell asleep right after she closed her eyes.

Thanks to the dawn, the room became brighter soon, and even though it was hard to Eren to keep his eyes open, he decided to see how Levi’s work on removing the curse of the Stone was going on, so he tried to stay at least a bit conscious. He only waved in front of the painting to make sure Belle was asleep, and sneaked out of his room as quietly as he could.

He was carefully making another steps to the lowest floor of this house, and when he finally approached the door, he pressed his ear against the door instead of knock them. Dead silence. No explosions or screams.

He kept listening. Still nothing. He slowly started to worry about it, so this time he knocked but suddenly pushed the door-handle when he didn’t get any answer like “come in” or at least “what do you want”.

“Levi?” he called, sticking his head out the door and looking around the basement. Everything seemed to be normal excluding a smell of burning and sooty walls... And also Levi who was asleep while sitting under one of them and holding a wall scraper. Eren was sure he tried to erase these stains and got so tired he couldn’t even go to bed. Seeing the man’s sleepy face, the boy was aware that master of this house shouldn’t taking a nap on the floor but he also didn’t wanted to interrupt his rest.

**_Well, well... Beast when awake but angel when asleep._ **

Classic but true. Sleeping Levi looked so calm that his guest couldn’t believe in what he was seeing. He was definitely sure he would regret this if he’d woke him up. In that case he started to look for some blanket, trying to be as quiet and careful as he was able to. As he finally managed to find it, he kneeled down in front of Levi, and he was about to cover him with the blanket when the man murmured something in his sleep and opened his eyes partially. In this moment, Eren was afraid he really woke him up but the wizard closed his eyes as soon as he opened them and kept sleeping. The boy breathed a sigh of relief. Putting a blanket on the man, he was still staring at his face so calm and angelic. The lad was wondering how was it possible that the most unbearable people were suddenly becoming gentle as lambs when falling asleep. Of course, if they didn’t snore too loud but, God bless, Levi didn’t seem to be one of such people.

Well, he would keep looking at the wizard’s face if he himself wouldn’t open his eyes, studying Eren from bottom to top.

“...The hell are you doing here...?” he murmured. Meanwhile, the boy started to nervously look for the proper words in his mind.

“Uhh... Umm...” he stuttered. “I-It’s because you fell asleep under the wall, so...”

Hearing this, Levi rubbed his eyes and looked around, and then he groaned with dissatisfaction.

“...I can’t believe I’ve fallen asleep in such dirty place. Thanks for waking me up...” saying this, he stood up looking very gloomy when seeing all this tar on brick walls. Eren didn’t like it, too, not to mention he hated when somebody was doing such hard work all alone. Especially if that person just woke up.

“...I can clean this mess for you, if you want.” he offered.

“So you will take the Stone and run away while I’ll be asleep? I don’t think so.”

“Oh, c’mon. Let me help you. Just give me another wall scraper and I’m going to work. Besides, don’t get me wrong but...” at this point he became strangely sad. “...I have a feeling that all of this happened because of me.”

Levi was only staring at him for a while without saying a word, and though the silence between them was a bit awkward to Eren, the wizard’s face softened.

“Maybe it’s you, maybe not...” he said at last. “But I doubt since you would have to be some high class magician.”

The boy looked at him with surprise but before he could say anything his companion snapped his fingers and, in the blink of an eye, Eren was holding a pair of rubber gloves and the same wall scraper as Levi had.

“Start from there.” the man pointed at the other corner and went back to scrapping the soot off the walls.

Eren did the same but though it went smoothly at the beginning, it became harder to erase smaller and more bothersome soot stains over time. No matter how hard he tried to get rid of them, they just didn’t want to disappear. That was pretty exhausting. In addition, it was strange to see Levi using such ordinary cleaning methods and be aware of huge power he was possessing.

The longer Eren was thinking of it, the slower he was working, and soon his hands completely stopped moving what Levi noticed almost immediately.

“Already tired?” he asked, continuing his work.

“No but... I don’t know, something is just wrong. I mean, you’re a wizard, aren’t you?”

The man raised his eyebrow.

“Yeah, if you haven’t noticed yet.”

“...So why don’t you just make all this soot disappear?”

“Because I’m not a fucking couch potato.” saying this, the wizard moved his look from Eren back to the sooty stain he was trying to erase. “Besides, it’s dangerous. First rule of cleaning: **never** use magic.”

The boy shrugged and looked at the corner he was about to clean.

“Okay... I just thought this way would be faster...”

“It wouldn’t, trust me. It would only make a bigger mess than now and we wouldn’t get rid of it till the day of our death.”

Eren raised both of his eyebrows as he heard his words. However, he didn’t say anything though he was curious about the story hiding behind this. Well, everyone has their secrets, so he decided to finish his work. His eyes slowly started to closing but, after all, he offered himself to help so he couldn’t let his teenage honor suffer.

So they stayed like this in silence, working hand in hand to make the soot disappear from the walls.

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language so if you see any mistakes in grammar - please, tell me. I would be very thankful :,)


End file.
